


Song of the Soul

by ClockworkFlames



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: ASL, American Sign Language, Angst, Bad Puns, Emotions, F/F, F/M, Fluffy, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, I can't write smut to save my life and I rather not ruin this story with a sad excuse for smut, I really need to learn how to actually tag, Jokes, Lots of Music, M/M, More Fluff Than Angst But There Is Still Angst, Musically Inclined Reader, Musican Reader, No Smut, Nonbinary Frisk, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route - "I want to stay with you.", Reader Is Not Chara, Reader Is Not Frisk, Romance, Romance is gunna be really slow between sans and reader because it's a slow burn, Safe For Work, Selectively Mute Frisk, Sign Language, Slow Burn, Sorry but no skele-dong, Timelines, Undertale Genocide Route, Undertale Pacifist Route, Unnamed Reader, Violence, You have a really nice apartment, You're kind of a famous musician, all my works are story heavy like i'm sorry but not really, bullshit tags, can you tell that i have too many story ideas and not enough time, i really like writing slow burn stories, lots of detail, puns, reader is female, sfw, slow start-up, story heavy, story is nice yeah, tags will be added as needed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-08
Updated: 2017-03-25
Packaged: 2018-08-29 20:17:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8503981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClockworkFlames/pseuds/ClockworkFlames
Summary: Every single living being - human or monster - has a distinct soul song.Since you were young, you have always been able to hear these songs. As you grew up, you built your life around your ability. Building yourself a career in music, you soon became well known due to your ability to 'create' music that perfectly fits the person the song is based off of. While you listened to these songs that seemed to flow out of the people around you, you were unaware of just what you were hearing until monsters came to the surface.Once the existence of souls was announced, you were forced to realize you were turning the entirety of a person's soul into music. Learning that souls were seen as something personal to monsters, you became fearful of playing your music around monsters. You didn't want to accidentally insult an entire species by turning their souls into music. Once you accidentally play a monster's soul song for the first time, you end up with a gig at Grillby's.It's at that bar that you meet a wonderful gang of monsters as well as a particular skeleton who seems pretty curious about your abilities.Of course, there's a chance that some may plan to abuse your talent for their own personal gain...





	1. The First Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Growing up with your powers was odd, yet it ultimately led you to your dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's right, I started another Sans/Reader story before finishing my first one. I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist. I've had this idea for a few days now and this morning a third Sans/Reader idea struck me. So like, I'm probably gunna start a journal of Sans/Reader ideas lol someone save me. Don't worry, I completely intend to finish Time Forgot as well as this story.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Prologue - The First Note 

 

When you were a young child, you discovered a special gift that seemed engraved into your very being. If you were to concentrate on a specific person, you found yourself able to hear a song that seemingly flowed out of their very being. The song always seemed to define the entirety of the person you were focusing on. Every single person had their own distinct song and no two were the exact same. As people grew up and went through major events in their lives, their songs would seemingly alter themselves slightly as if they were growing with the person.

As time went on, you began to realize several things about the abilities you were gifted with. For one, you sometimes had to concentrate to find the song you were searching for. In some way, it was as if certain songs were on different frequencies compared to those of others. Another thing was that the more interactions that you had with a person, the quicker you were able to tune into that person’s song. If you were around a person often enough, you ultimately began to tune into their song as if it was second nature.

You were mystified by the music that surrounded you and soon enough, you built your life around playing these songs for all to hear. As you grew up and got older, you learned many instruments and began to write the tunes you heard. Sometimes, you would also try writing lyrics to the songs if you were especially close to the person whose song you were listening to. Depending on the song you were listening to, the style of music tended to change to suit them. Due to this, you learned many different styles of music from well known genres to rather obscure ones. Soon enough, you found yourself able to tune into the songs of people much easier and were seemingly able play along with them. If you heard a song once, you were able to replicate it quite easily due to your skills with music.

Once you entered college, you pursued a career in music in hopes of bringing these songs you heard to everyone. Due to your skills in music, you were able to get your master's degree in music production and bachelor's degree in music theory in four years. While it was a long four years filled with restless nights and no free time, it had all been worth it to you. With your degrees in hand, you began your career as a music artist.

At first, your career simply started off as small performances on street corners and little gigs in coffee shops. Once in awhile, you would appear in a fair as part of the live music. While it took some time, you were able to catch your lucky break and make it big in the music world. Since you were able to cater to such a wide range of people, it wasn’t hard for you to find jobs once you became known. Many people took interest in the fact that you seemed to have a song that suited everyone. Though you never told anyone about your ability, it was nice to feel appreciated in the music world.

Then the monsters came out from under Mount Ebott.

When they appeared on the surface, things seemed a bit tense at first. For the first year, human-monster relations were barely holding on by a thread. At times, there were rumors that another war would break out between the two species. However, after the second year began, it seemed as if the shock of it all had finally died down. While it had taken a lot of time and fighting, monsters had been given the same rights as humans.

Of course, not everyone was pleased that monsters were being allowed to join humans. There were still monster hate groups and protests against monsters, yet the human governments were trying their best to crack down on all the crimes against monsters. It was taking time but it was easy to see that humanity was trying to help monsters in their own way. While monsters certainly didn’t feel completely safe on the surface, the fact that many humans were trying to be inviting was enough for the monsters to try.

In February of the second year that monsters were on the surface, the King of Monsters had stepped forward with the Royal Scientist at his side. Together, the two had explained the existence of souls to the human race. While the Royal Scientist didn’t have the answers to everything, she gave away quite a bit of information before explaining that she would be continuing in her examination of souls in hopes of discovering more. After a simple number to call in case any humans wished to volunteer to help their cause, the announcement had seemingly ended.

From the broadcast, you had learned several important things. Every single living being - animal, human, or monster - had a soul of their own that was unique in its own way. However, while monster souls were all white, human souls were colored. Depending on the main trait that these souls had, the color of the soul would be different. There were seven main traits, meaning that there were seven different colors. Some dominant soul traits were rarer than others, such as a red soul filled with determination being harder to find than a green soul full of kindness. Finally, you were told that souls were seen as a very private thing. They were usually kept to one’s self and not shared with others.

After hearing about the existence of souls, something deep within you seemed to resonate and tell you that the songs you heard came from the souls of others. For years, you had been taking the private souls of others and playing their songs for all to hear. With this knowledge, you found yourself contemplating if you should stop creating music completely and move on with life. However, with the encouragement of so many people who had heard your songs before, you decided to continue forward with your music career.

From then onwards, you were careful about playing music around monsters. While you had nothing against them, you were worried that you would perhaps offend them in some way if you ended up playing the song of a monster soul. However, one day in late March you ultimately slipped up and played the first note of a song which belonged to a monster by the name of Shyren. Once you had begun, you found yourself unable to stop and played her entire song.

At first, you had been absolutely terrified of what repercussions might arise from this action. However, instead of being insulted, the shy monster seemed flattered before asking you to play it again. When you began the tune once more, the young fish monster began to sing along to your music. By the time it was over, Shyren seemed rather happy and gave a silent thank you before going off.

With the experience of a monster soul song under your belt, you were able to spot a difference between human and monster soul songs. It seemed as if monster soul songs already seemed to have some semblance of lyrics already embedded into them. While you couldn’t hear the words while simply hearing the soul song, that changed when you would being to play the song. Once you began playing a monster’s soul song, the lyrics would seemingly push themselves to the forefront of your mind. Although it was hard to ignore the lyrics and not sing them, it was not entirely impossible.

Since then, you hadn’t been too scared of playing the soul songs of monsters. However, you were still rather cautious about the whole thing and tried to avoid it whenever possible. If you ever found a particularly beautiful soul song from a monster, you would always ask if you could play them a tune. Of course, you never explained that you were playing the song of their soul but it felt nice to at least get some sort of approval before playing a monster’s song.

When the middle of April rolled around, you found yourself receiving a call from an unknown number. Picking it up, you were a bit surprised to hear a monster on the other end. Going by the name Grillby, the monster owned a bar on Main Street and was hoping to have you come in at the beginning of May for a gig. Apparently, he had heard about you through Shyren and thought that it would be a good idea to try having live music in his establishment. After all, what good was a piano in the place is there was no one to play it?

At first, you had been a bit nervous before finally giving into your curiosity and accepting the proposal. After the date and payment was all set up, you ended the call before saving Grillby’s number into your phone in case he called back. Before long, May 5th seemingly came out of nowhere. With your nerves on end, you had gathered everything you needed before getting ready for the night. Donning a simple dark blue princess-style dress with white swirls crawling up from the hem like frost, you tossed on a plain pair of white flats before heading out the door. Lucky for you, you were only a five minute walk from Main Street. Taking a deep breath, you took a minute to gather your thoughts as you stood outside of Grillby’s. At the lovely age of 26, you were finally going to perform your first gig in a monster establishment.

You just hoped that you didn’t play some monster’s soul song and get a face full of magic. You really didn’t feel like insulting an entire species with your music. Refusing to stall any longer, you stepped into Grillby’s with all the confidence you could muster. As you walked over to the bar to inform Grillby of your arrival, you were able to scan out the crowd you would be playing for. While most of them were definitely monsters, there were a few humans scattered within the group. Relaxing a bit, you felt as if you would be fine that night.

You never could have known that your life would forever change the moment you played the first note of a certain soul song later that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this somewhat-short beginning! Throughout this story, I'll be doing my best to level out the amount of music and story line. When it comes to any possible lyrics being put into the story, they will not count towards the overall word count of the chapter. In fact, I don't intend to put any lyrics into the chapters until the chapter is actually complete. While there will be lyrics in some chapters, it will NOT be an every-chapter occurrence. Hopefully this idea has caught your interest and is unique enough to keep you around! Anyway, I plan to (hopefully) have chapter 1 out sometime tonight as well so be on the lookout for that if you enjoy this prologue.
> 
> If you enjoy this story, please consider checking out Time Forgot as well! That story of mine is much further ahead and has another chapter that should be ready by Friday. 
> 
> Constructive criticism and comments are appreciated so feel free to message and you've got a 99% chance of me replying!
> 
> Side Note: What would you guys think of me getting a patreon? Would any of you consider donating? You wouldn't have to pay to continue reading my stories, it would just be a side thing if you guys so chose to support me. I had a friend consider it but idk. :/


	2. Exposed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You knew how strong a soul song could be but you never could have figured out just how much could be discovered in a single one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs Used:
> 
> 1) The Call by Regina Spektor  
> 2) Megalovania [Sans Piano Ver.] by Aria R.

Chapter 1 - Exposed

 

When you arrived at the L-shaped bar counter in the establishment, you found that there was no one currently there to serve you. Standing beside the bar for a moment, your eyes scanned over the vast selection of alcohol behind the sleek black bar. Shelved alphabetically by name, there was an array of both human and monster liquor on display. After waiting around for a few minutes, you nibbled on your bottom lip before deciding to relax a little. Taking a seat in one of the burgundy bar stools, you took the time to examine the bar you would be playing in.

The floor of the building was a beautiful light wood, helping to brighten up the place. Meanwhile, the walls were a rather dark burgundy that seemed to give off a bit of a warm atmosphere. While all the tables in the building matched the black color of the bar, the chairs were all the same burgundy color. There were a few booths pushed up against the wall that looked rather cozy. In fact, you were pretty sure that there was a rabbit-like monster taking a nap in one. Turning your attention to the lights hanging on the wall, you noticed that they were all simply candles surrounded by glass. It reminded you of something you would see in an old-timey establishment but you liked it. In the back right corner of the bar, there was a slightly raised stage with a lovely black upright piano. Though it was obviously a bit worn down, it was easy to see that it was well cared for and loved. If anything, the worn down look was from loving use of the instrument and not abuse of it.

Feeling a warm heat radiating from behind you, it took a moment before you glanced back towards the bar. Before you stood a monster made completely out of fire. Wearing a white dress shirt, the monster had on a black bow tie and vest which was buttoned up completely.  Along with this, he word black slacks and matching dress shoes. Glancing up to see the glasses on his face, you wondered just how his clothing wasn’t burning. Quickly realizing that you had been staring, you fluttered out, “You’re Grillby, right? I’m _____, the person you hired to play here tonight. Just thought I should introduce myself face-to-face before I start on the music. I figured you’d like to know that it was actually me before you saw some stranger messing around with your piano.”

Seeming to be the quite type, Grillby simply gave a small nod before holding out his hand towards you. Assuming that he wouldn’t offer his hand if it would harm you, a smile graced your face before your hand met his. Giving the monster’s hand a firm shake, you released his hand soon afterwards before hopping off of the bar stool. Making sure that you still had your bag, you gave the owner a small wave before walking over to the piano.

Placing your bag beside the piano, you knelt down to grab a few musical scores out of your bag before putting them on the piano. You doubted that you would actually be playing any of the songs you had written by yourself but it never hurt to have them just in case. After yanking a bottle of water out of the bag, you zipped it back up before putting the drink to the side. For a few minutes, you fiddled with the nearby microphone so that you would be able to use it if the need arose. Finding that everything was set up to your liking, you took a seat on the piano bench and cracked your knuckles.

For your first hour in the bar, you simply played songs that people would be familiar with. While there were a few classical tunes mixed in, most of what you performed were piano versions of modern day songs. It seemed as if the monsters were glad to have the music filling the bar and adding to the overall atmosphere. Everything seemed very lively and you were glad to be part of the night. Smiling to yourself, your fingers skillfully went through the final run of the song you were currently ending.

Taking a moment for yourself, you moved to pick up your water bottle only to find the plastic container empty. Frowning to yourself, you were about to stand up when you felt someone lightly tug the hem of your dress. A little confused, you looked over to your right to see a small child smiling up at you. The small child wore a blue sweater with two purple stripes running horizontally in the middle, yet they seemed a little bit swamped in the fabric. In fact, it was almost as if the sweater was just a size too big as the sleeves seemed to be covering up their hands. They wore blue jean shorts and a pair of brown leather boots to complete the outfit. Their straight brown hair ended at their chin in a rather cute bob cut and they had short bangs that ended just above their eyes. It looked like the child’s bangs could grow and cover up the child's beautiful brown eyes eyes any day now. In the child’s hands was a glass of water that they were extending towards you. You wondered just how this child was in the bar, certainly they couldn’t be older than ten.

“Is that for me, Sweetie?” you asked, raising an eyebrow at the young child. Almost instantly, the brunette grinned before nodding their head quickly. Giggling as the kid’s actions, you graciously took the glass from their hands before taking a gulp of the cool liquid. Placing the glass to the side, you ruffled the child’s hair before cooing, “You’re such a sweetheart that’s definitely after my own heart! In fact, I think you deserve a song of your own. What do you think, Sweetie? Wanna write a song with me?”

Hearing your words, the child before you was practically beaming as they jumped up and down with delight. Laughing as you watched the child, you felt your heart swell with admiration for the young child. They were certainly sweet and you silently applauded whoever had raised them because they had definitely done a stellar job. Once the child had calmed down slightly, they looked up at you expectantly.

Holding your own hands out to them, you decided to act towards their child-like sense of wonder. After all, what child didn’t like to hear about magic? It wasn’t as if anyone would believe that you were actually using magic. Whenever you were about to listen into a child’s soul song, you always up-played it and made it seem as if you were a magician of some sort. It was always a treat to see how excited the little tikes would be and the parents always seemed to appreciate it.

“Alright, so place your hands in mind and close your eyes. I’m going to use my magical music abilities to write a song that’s meant specifically for you. Once I’m done, I’ll play it out loud and you can tell me if you like the masterpiece that we’ve created together,” you explained, patiently waiting for the child’s hands. Once the young brunette had rolled their sleeves up, they rested their hands in your upturned palms and squeezed their eyes shut. Closing your eyes soon after, you held the ten-year-old’s hands in your own and began to focus. It took a moment but once you had gotten yourself onto the same frequency as the child’s soul, you were in for a shock.

Almost instantly, it felt as if you had been smashed in the face with a handful of lyrics. Never before had a soul song ever been so forward with the words that went along to the music. For a moment, it had almost broken your concentration from the initial shock. Shaking your head, your eyebrows furrowed together as you deepened your concentration. The song seemed to be slower than any song you had ever heard from a child before, yet it was truly a heart-warming tune. It would definitely be easy to play on the piano, which was definitely a relief because you hadn’t brought any of your other instruments with you.

After a moment, you opened your eyes before releasing the child’s hands from your own. Noticing that you had let them go, the young child opened their own eyes and stared up at you in anticipation. Giving the child a wink, you whispered, “I think we’re about to create a lovely song, Sweetie. I’ll get ready to play this song for you to hear. Why don’t you go meet up with whoever you came with and tell them the news? I’m sure your friends would love to know that this next song is your song.”

Practically glowing at your words, the brunette child smiled and waved at you before turning on their heel and dashing off. Watching the child disappear into the crowd, you realized that you hadn’t even asked the kid for their name. Then again, the sweetheart hadn’t seemed very keen on talking. First Grillby and now the little kid. In your mind, you wondered if anyone was actually going to speak a word to you tonight. Shrugging to yourself, you took a moment to drink some more water before putting it back in its place.

Scanning the bar, you were able to spot the young child at a rather crowded booth. While you weren’t able to see who exactly surrounded the brunette child due to how crowded the bar was, you assumed that they were back with their family. Deciding that now was the best time to play the soul song of the young child, you held back a smile as you turned to the mic. Turning on the microphone, your voice finally echoed through the speakers for the first time that night, “Hello everyone, it’s your lovely pianist here! I hope everyone is having a great night. This next song is dedicated to the little sweetheart who brought me a glass of water with practically perfect timing. The two of us made this little tune together, so I certainly hope you enjoy it.”

Taking a deep breath, your fingers easily found the correct keys as you started to play the music that was practically engraved into your mind at that current moment. The young child’s soul song had been stronger than any you had ever heard before and it had certainly let a lasting impression in your head. Almost instantaneously, you found yourself unable to hold back the lyrics that seemed to echo within this soul song. Letting the words leave your mouth, a soft smile graced your lips without you realizing it.

 _It started out as a feeling_ _  
_ _Which then grew into a hope_ _  
_ _Which then turned into a quiet thought_ _  
_ _Which then turned into a quiet word_ _  
_ _And then that word grew louder and louder_ _  
_ _'Til it was a battle cry_ _  
_ _I'll come back when you call me_  
_No need to say goodbye_

As the song picked up a little bit, your eyes slipped shut as you continued onwards. The child’s soul song made you think of a long, grueling journey which ended with a happy ending. It reminded you of family and seemed to warm up your soul and if it were wrapped up in a hug. You wanted to convey these feelings for everyone in the bar. This song was one that everyone should hear. It was a lovely melody and you had never heard one quite like it. Then again, you were already aware that no two soul songs were alike.

 _Just because everything's changing_ _  
_ _Doesn't mean it's never been this way before_ _  
_ _All you can do is try to know who your friends are_ _  
_ _As you head off to the war_ _  
_ _Pick a star on the dark horizon and follow the light_ _  
_ _You'll come back when it's over_ _  
_ _No need to say goodbye_ _  
_ _You'll come back when it's over_  
_No need to say goodbye_

As the soul song went into its instrumental moment, you put all your will into portraying all these emotions to the patrons of the bar. It was a song which spoke of never giving up in the face of adversity. Within the song, there was the tale of a young child who simply wished for everyone around them to believe in themselves and a brighter tomorrow. This was truly a selfless tune which showed just how much the little sweetheart cared for the ones around them. The brunette’s soul song was one that seemed to fill the room with determination and love.

Once the song began to reach its end, it started to slow down once more. Accompanying the music with your voice, you did your best to express all the emotions in the lyrics. While your singing was rather good, expressing feelings through lyrics had never been your strong suit. You could only hope that you were doing the song justice with the words you sang. Though it wasn’t the lyrics you were troubled over, you simply hoped that you had given the soul song the true beauty that it deserved.

 _Now we're back to the beginning_ _  
_ _It's just a feeling and no one knows yet_ _  
_ _But just because they can't feel it too_ _  
_ _Doesn't mean that you have to forget_ _  
_ _Let your memories grow stronger and stronger_ _  
_ _'Til they're before your eyes_ _  
_ _You'll come back when they call you_ _  
_ _No need to say goodbye_ _  
_ _You'll come back when they call you_  
_No need to say goodbye_

Letting your voice rest with the end of the lyrics, you played the last few notes before letting your hands fall away from the piano. Grasping the glass of water by your side, you took a big gulp before putting it back down. As cheers and claps filled the air, your soft smile turned into a huge grin. You were proud that everyone had enjoyed the young child’s soul song, for it was definitely one that everyone could enjoy. In some cases, there were soul songs that would clash with the personalities of others. In cases such as those, not everyone could enjoy the song. It was rather similar to people not liking certain genres of music. Of course, the little sweetheart’s soul song had not run into that problem.

Soon enough, you had gone back to playing songs that already existed. It was a nice way to relax and recharge after playing the soul song of someone. If you played several soul songs back to back, you would get drained rather quickly. You had figured that out the hard way when you were younger. When you were 21, you had played four soul songs back to back before passing out from how much energy it had seemingly drained from you. Though you weren’t sure why it had drained you so much, you hadn’t attempted to do such a thing ever since. Like the smart person you were, you took breaks between soul songs to let yourself rest. While sometimes the breaks would just be normal songs, they were sometimes actual food breaks. Both worked for what you needed, so it didn’t really matter which you did.

It wasn’t long before the brunette child had come back to your side. In fact, it had only been about fifteen minutes since you had played the young one’s soul song. Before you could react, the little child leapt into your arms and hugged you tightly. Feeling rather special due to the hug, you ruffled the child’s hair once more before teasing, “I guess that means that you enjoyed the masterpiece we made together. I told you that you’d like it. In fact, I think it suited you perfectly.”

After a minute or two, the child slipped out of your grasp before staring up at you. Holding up their pointer finger as a sign for you to wait a moment, the brunette child soon turned around and weaved their way back into the crowd. Not long after they had left, you could spot the young child heading your way with a rather stout skeleton monster trailing behind them. Dragging the monster along, it seemed that the brunette was determined to get the monster to meet you. While the child and monster were busy with getting back to you, you took a moment to examine the monster.

The skeleton was taller than the young child by a foot, yet you had a feeling that you would be taller than the skeleton if you stood up. With a lazy dimpled smile plastered on his face, it was obviously that he was rather relaxed. In fact, with the way the boney monster was portraying himself, it seemed as if he considered Grillby’s to be a second home. Though his large eyes were half-closed, his glowing white pupils were focused on the brunette child as they dragged him along. Donning a blue hoodie with white fur lining the hood, it was easy to see the white t-shirt underneath since he hadn't bothered to zip the jacket. Though the black basketball shorts with white stripes on the sides seemed ridiculous, it was the pink slippers on his feet which made nearly snort.

After a lot of tugging, the kid had finally gotten the skeleton monster to follow them over to you. Looking at the two, you smiled before giving the monster a small nod of acknowledgement. Turning your gaze back to the brunette, you chirped, “You know, I never did get your name, Sweetheart. Usually you’re supposed to know the name of a person before you meet their friends. Then again, I guess I really didn’t introduce myself to you either.”

“their name is frisk. the kiddo is mute, so don’t take it to heart that they never told you. i know i didn’t,” the skeleton monster joked, catching your attention quite easily. Glancing over at him, you raised an eyebrow as you waited for the monster to continue. Seeming to catch on, the stout monster was quick to state, “my name is sans and that’s certainly no fibula. the little tater tot here wanted me to meet their ‘super cool new friend’ so i thought that i may as well follow them before they got too sternum with me.”

Unable to hold back any longer, you laughed at the rather lame skeleton puns before shaking your head. Once you had calmed down a bit, you rolled your eyes and smiled at the skeleton, “Nice to meet you, I’m _____. It’s not every day that I meet someone with the ability to pull puns out of thin air. You must be rather good at it.”

“you’re right. in fact, you could say that i’m rather sansational when it comes to the art of puns,” the jacket-clad monster responded, earning another round of laughter from you. Before you could continue the conversation, a tug on your dress directed your attention back to Frisk. Staring at them for a moment, you raised an eyebrow as they signed something out. Since you weren’t really able to understand what was being said, you felt a little awkward. However, it seemed that Sans understood the child perfectly fine, “c’mon kiddo, don’t bug the lady over something like that.”

Hearing Sans’ words, Frisk seemed to huff before rolling their eyes. Once they realized that you couldn’t understand them, the child got rather creative. At first, they pointed at the piano before pointing at you and Sans at the same time. To finish up, the child pretended to play the piano before grinning up at you. Processing everything that you had seen, you slowly questioned, “You want me to do the same thing I did for you, but with Sans?”

Glad that you had caught on so fast, Frisk clapped their hands together before giving a big nod. Letting out a sigh, Sans noogied the little child before rolling his eye lights. Looking up to stare at you, he stated, “don’t worry about listening to what the kiddo is asking. by the end of the night, they’re probably gonna want you to play a song for everyone in their family. anyway, you’re not really paid to deal with this little fart’s wishes.”

“Oh no! It’s honestly fine with me. If you’re alright with it, I’ll gladly play a song meant just for you. It’s quite fun to do and it really lets me see just how diverse I can be with music. It’s really not a problem at all,” you said with a smile, doing your best to hide how nervous you were. You really wanted to play the soul song of another monster since your first time had been rather long ago. While Sans seemed unsure at first, he ultimately gave in after some persistent nagging from Frisk. After explaining what to do the same exact way you had done for the brunette child, you held your hands out.

“we haven’t even been on the first date yet and you’re already holding my hands. how forward of you!” Sans joked, placing his skeletal hands in your own. Rolling your eyes, you simply closed your eyes and began to focus. After a much longer period of searching, you were finally able to find Sans’ soul frequency. For someone who was obviously a funny guy, a jolt of surprise ran through you when such a haunting song seemed to flow into your ears. Listening to the tune for a few moments, you soon opened your eyes and released the skeleton’s hands.

“You’re sure that this is alright with you? I know Frisk was a little pushy with you about letting me do this,” you whispered, meeting Sans’ eye lights for a moment. Raising a brow bone - which was something you were definitely going to ask about later - the monster simply gave a nod before grabbing Frisk’s hand in his own. Pausing for a moment, you returned his nod before mumbling, “As long as you’re alright with it.”

Once Frisk and Sans had returned to the rest of their group, you sat down at your piano in silence. Taking a shaky breath, you tried to calm your nerves as you prepared yourself to play the song. After a minute and several sips of water, you decided to stop stalling the matter. If you kept the two waiting, they would certainly grow concerned with your action. Moving to the microphone, you hummed out, “This song is dedicated to monster that a certain little sweetheart introduced me to. I hope you enjoy your song.”

Beginning the song, a haunting and slow melody left your piano as you played the tune you had heard. While the song in the skeleton’s soul had gone much faster than what you were playing, you felt as if the lyrics that had come with it suited this slower pace much better. As the music swam through the bar, you felt as if you had been dropped into a hopeless situation. Soon enough, the lyrics slipped past your lips as you closed your eyes. Seeming to sway with the music, you easily sank into the emotion behind it all. The emotion behind every word was raw and full of pain. You felt as if you had been stabbed in the back by a friend that you had trusted with your life and your soul seemed to ache.

 _Listen and hear a song the birds are singing_  
_Sit down a while and watch the flowers blooming_  
_A pleasant breeze flows by leaving a trail of dust_  
_This is your fault, right?_

 _Standing in the corridor_  
_Who thought we’d be here like this together?_  
_On a gorgeous day like this, I ask_

 _What is it that you want?_  
  
_I believe there was a time_  
_Where we could be pals and things were better_  
_Eating bad food, enjoying laughs_  
_Can we go back to that?_

Continuing to push the song forward, you found yourself fighting back tears that were trying to form. As the song continued, it seemed as if you were trying to beg for things to go back to the way they were. This song was a single wish placed within a song. It was a wish for a friendship to be reformed and problems to be resolved. The emotions behind the tune were betrayal and sadness. You felt as if you had lost everything that ever mattered to you all due to a single person who you had considered a friend.

 _If you’re in there listening, kid,_  
_Just reset the timeline and_  
_Let’s please forget all of this_

 _Even after what you did he believed in you_  
_’til the end._

 _Looking at your face right now_  
_That expression tells me I can’t_  
_Afford not to care anymore_

 _Turn this path around, wipe your dirty hands clean._  
_Give up!_

 _Please don’t come back_  
_If you’re my friend_

_Please..._

Pushing the song to its end, you felt as if your entire being was being dragged down into a pit of never ending despair. There seemed to be no way of winning whatever adversity you were seemingly facing. No matter how hard you tried, you would lose. Since that was the case, shouldn’t you just give up? While you certainly wanted to, you knew that you wouldn’t give up. However, you weren’t fighting for yourself anymore. No, you were fighting for all the people you had seemingly lost.

 _Listen and hear a song the birds are singing_  
_Sit down a while and watch the flowers blooming_  
_A pleasant breeze flows by leaving a trail of – (dust)_  
_How could you have done this?_

 _Is there still_  
_A glimmer of hope?_  
_Will you choose_  
_To do the right thing?_

 _Please now, bud_  
_If you’re there_  
_Have a change of heart_

 _Listen and hear a song the birds are singing_  
_Sit down a while and watch the flowers blooming_  
_What a nice day..._

With the song complete, you opened your eyes only to realize that your tears must have escaped you at some point. In fact, it seemed as if the song had brought everyone to tears. If there was one thing about soul songs, it was that they were filled with the emotions of the person they belonged to. Due to that, people listening to the song had the possibility of experiencing the emotions that were portrayed in the song.

Wiping your face dry with the heels of your hands, you took a quick gulp of water before moving back to the microphone. Voice a little hoarse, you whispered, “Sorry about the sad song everyone. Wasn’t it beautiful in its own bittersweet way though? Now then, before I take my first 30-minute break for the night, let me play a few happier songs to lighten up the mood.”

Sinking back into the joyous melodies of current pop songs played on piano, you were unaware of the two sets of eyes that seemed glued to your form. While a set of brown eyes belonging to Frisk seemed filled with disbelief and regret, the sharp eye lights of Sans were filled with curiosity and distress. However, both sets of eyes were overflowing with grief and sadness.

Unknown to you, that was when you had started the hands of fate. After all, you had just exposed the one event that two beings had been trying their best to forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is 4148 words WITHOUT the lyrics. With the lyrics, it gets bumped up to 4582 words.
> 
> Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. I know it was a little slow but at least I let you meet Sans in the second chapter! In my other story, Sans didn't even appear until chapter 6. Look, I'm being nicer in this fic! Lol.
> 
> As always, comments and constructive criticism is appreciated.


	3. Introductions Are Important, No Matter The Subject

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After meeting some of the Frisk's family, you head home for the night only to get a pleasant surprise in the form of a text.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, I planned to wait until Friday to release this but I felt as if this was something that should be released early in hopes of bringing a little light to someone's day. I hope that this chapter can hopefully lift your spirits at least a little bit. As always, enjoy.

Chapter 2 -  Introductions Are Important, No Matter The Subject 

 

After finishing up one more pop song on your piano, you decided to take your first break of the night. Turning off the microphone for the time being, you grabbed your empty glass of water before standing up. Leaving your bag near the piano, it didn’t take long for you to make your way back to the bar. Hopping up onto one of the stools, you placed your empty glass on the bar and waited for Grillby to walk over. For a moment, your eyes followed the flaming being’s path as he handed out drinks and food to several patrons.

Resting your forehead on the table, you sighed to yourself and allowed your eyes to slip shut. While you were trying to relax, your brain kept taking you back to the two soul songs that you had played tonight. Things had been off when you were playing both songs and your mind couldn’t put together why everything had gone so differently than usual. For one, you had never encountered a human soul song that was so lively and strong. Frisk had been unique in that sense but it had also been a shock to be hit with lyrics for a human soul song since it usually took you several tries to pick the words out of a human soul song. Meanwhile, the soul song you had heard from Sans was troubling your mind. For someone who was seemed rather comedic and laid back, his soul song had sounded so desolate and desperate. It was honestly worrying you quite a lot.

If there was one thing about soul songs that even you found rather invasive, it was the fact that you could figure out a person’s true personality by listening to their song. For example, a person could present themselves as confident and sociable, yet their soul song could show that they were truly anxious and withdrawn. It was always something that you appreciated as a child but once monsters had announced the existence of souls, you had been disturbed by that part of your ability. From then on, you had tried not to point out the differences between the person and song to anyone. It had become your own dirty little secret and that was fine.

Hearing a small thud, you lifted your head only to see that a full glass of water had been placed before you. Pushing yourself into a sitting position, you smiled up at Grillby and snatched the glass. After taking a large gulp of water, you idly spoke, “Hopefully you’ve been enjoying my performance so far. If you ever have a certain song you want me to play, just let me know. After all, you’re my boss tonight.”

Although Grillby didn’t speak, his flames seemed to happily crackle in understanding. Before you could speak again, the well-dressed monster turned on his heel and walked off. As you took in the view of the bar, you found your mind wandering off. However, you were pulled out of your day dreaming by a tug on your dress. Looking down, you raised an eyebrow as you caught sight of Frisk. Taking your glass of water into your right hand, you took another sip before asking, “What’s up, Sweetheart?”

Without warning, the brunette child grabbed your left hand and practically yanked you off the bar stool. While you tried to catch your balance after the sudden jolt, Frisk was already beginning to pull you along. Stumbling after the child, the two of you weaved your way through the crowd before ending up at a rather crowded circular table near the left side of the room. When Frisk suddenly stopped their stride, you nearly ran into the child. Luckily, you hadn’t dropped your glass of water during the trip but you had spilt some on the liquid onto your hand. Standing beside the small child, you took your time to take in the scene while the monsters chatted among themselves. You caught a glimpse of Sans within the group but other than that, you didn’t really recognize anyone.

Before you could examine any of the monsters closely, Frisk nudged you with their elbow. Glancing down at the child, you raised an eyebrow and gave a half smile. Glad to have your attention, the brunette swept their right arm from the left side of the table to the right. Taking in their motion for a moment, a light bulb seemed to go off in your head. Squatting down beside the child, you hummed, “So these are your family members? I think you should go ahead and introduce them to me.”

Happy with your words, Frisk seemed to nod before turning their attention to the table. While you took the time to stood up, the brunette child walked over and banged their hands on the table. Almost instantly, the group of monsters seemed to look over at the young child. After making a few hand gestures that you couldn’t understand at all, the brown eyed child pointed over at you. Taking that as your queue, you raised your hand up in an awkward wave before stating, “Hey there, nice you meet you. Hope you’ve been enjoying the music that I’ve been playing…”

This was way more awkward than you had expected it to be. Perhaps you still had a chance to turn tail and get out of there. However, you really didn’t want to disappoint Frisk since they seemed rather excited to introduce you to their family. Before you had a chance to decide if you would stay or go, one of the monsters in the group jumped over the table and landed before you. Standing there in shocked silence, your hand was instantly snatched up into a firm handshake that made you rather dizzy. Blinking a few times to get rid of the wave of nausea that threatened to hit you, it wasn’t long before you looked at the woman before you.

The woman who had thrown herself over the table just to greet you was an anthropomorphic fish monster. Beautiful blue scales that seemed to glitter in the candlelight covered her entire body and her long red hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Red and blue striped fins were on the sides of her head, seeming to take the place of her ears. As her face was pulled into a friendly grin, it was easy to see her sharp yellow teeth. Though she wore red eye shadow, her left eye was covered up by a plain black eye patch. Her left eye reminded you of a cat's eye, with a black vertical pupil and a yellow sclera. Simply donned in a black tank top and blue jeans, her red boots had a yellow stripe near the top.

While you were busy taking in the monster, it seemed as if she had taken the initiative to start talking, “So you’re the human that’s been playing piano all night? You’ve been doing pretty good, Punk! Actually, I play piano too though I must admit that you’ve been playing just a little bit better than me. Anyway, name’s Undyne! Frisk said your name was _____. Right?”

Snapping out of your stupor, you gave a firm nod before replying, “Yeah, that’s my name. It’s nice to meet you, Undyne. It’s not often that I meet people who also play piano. Then again, I guess I don’t usually ask people if they play or not. Maybe sometime we could play together and give each other a few pointers?”

For a moment, the fish monster was silent before her smile widened. Moving to stand beside you, Undyne gave you a rather rough pat on the back that nearly knocked the wind out of you. Soon after, the red haired monster threw her right arm over your shoulders before laughing, “You’re not half bad, Punk! At first, I was a little worried about Grillby having a human perform at the bar but I can tell that you’re not a bad person. Don’t take it personally or anything but lots of us monsters are still on edge since there are some monster-hating idiots still out there.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not offended or anything. It’s completely understandable that you guys would still be worried. Humans are jerks,” you replied, nodding at Undyne’s words, “We already hate people that are different than ourselves so I’m not surprised that there are people who are against monsters. It just sucks that you have to deal with bigots like that. They’re honestly not worth it.”

Soon enough, it seemed as if you were getting introduced to everyone that was there. Undyne went ahead and introduced you to her girlfriend Alphys. Alphys was a reptilian monster that reminded you of a dinosaur. Her cheeks were red with embarrassment as her brown eyes seemed to avoid directly looking at you. Surprisingly, she was rather close to Frisk's height, perhaps only an inch or two taller. She had bright yellow scales and round black glasses which rested on her face. While two teeth were slightly protruding from the monster's mouth, you couldn't help but think it looked oddly cute on this monster. A matching yellow tail was resting idly on the ground, although it seemed to be swishing side to side due to Alphys’ nervous nature. While the monster was simply wearing a white lab coat, you wondered if the monster usually went bare footed. It was easy to tell that she was embarrassed and flustered yet she did her best to give a meek hello and compliment you on your playing.

The other monster that you were introduced to was another skeleton. With a toothy grin on his face, his pupil-less eyes resembled vertical slits. However, despite his lack of pupils, his eyes seemed to sparkle as his skeletal pseudo-brows were raised and proved that his smile was definitely real. He wore a white chest plate with gold trim around the edges of the sleeves and hem. The red gloves he donned had gold trim and matched his knee-high boots. While his blue briefs were held up with a golden belt, the final item tying the whole piece together was the red scarf tied around his neck. The skeleton seemed to tower over you, though he practically screamed ‘sweet cinnamon roll’ with the way he was acting. Introducing himself as the Great Papyrus, the monster was quick to confirm that he was indeed Sans’ brother.

Taking a seat at the table, it wasn’t long before you fell into idle chatter. Apparently, there were usually more people who came along to the group outings that they usually held. However, two of them had been unable to make it due to an important work meeting. Meanwhile, the third monster who was usually a part of the group was on tour and wouldn’t be back in town until the end of the month. While you were a little upset that you had been unable to meet the others, you were glad to meet the monsters before you. You mentally told yourself to thank Frisk for introducing you to their family.

During all the chatter, you felt as if someone’s gaze was burning into you. Though you had tried to figure out who was staring you down, it seemed impossible to do. While Alphys and Undyne were constantly glancing at each other, neither had been staring at you for a long periods of time. Meanwhile, both Papyrus and Sans had been constantly switching their attention from one person to the next. They never seemed to stay on one person for too long. As for Frisk, the little child had taken residence in your lap and kept their eyes on the people in front of them. At the end of it all, you simply shook it off as your mind playing tricks on you and let it drop.

Throughout the time that had passed, everything had gone rather smoothly. You had exchanged numbers with everyone at the table, totalling to a number of five new contacts in your phone. With a small sigh, you excused yourself from the table soon after. While you would have loved to stay and chat all night, you weren’t getting paid to sit around and talk with everyone. Lifting Frisk off of your lap, you stood up before placing the child in your spot. Ruffling the brunette’s hair, you snatched up your empty glass before bidding goodbye and heading back to the piano.

The rest of the night seemed to fly by after that. After the fact that you had played two completely out of the ordinary soul songs that night, you had stayed away from playing another. Instead of playing more soul songs, you went about with playing some modern tunes as well as some pieces that you had created yourself. By the time midnight came, it seemed as if all the patrons had already left the establishment for the night. Packing up all your items, you tossed your back onto your back before making your way over to the bar. Meeting up with Grillby, you grinned as you received your check in an envelope as well as a paper bag.

“Awe man, french fries too!? Grillby, you are by far one of the best people who have ever hired me for a gig,” you cooed, looking into the bag you had been handled. Making sure to close the paper bag, you placed it into your larger bag along with your check. Glancing back up at the bartender, you hummed, “If you ever want me to play here again, just shoot me a quick text a few days in advance and I’ll gladly come. This place is awesome. I’ll have to thank Shyren for telling you about me.”

Seemingly flustered by your compliments about his bar, the flames of Grilly’s cheeks grew blue as he seemingly waved you out the door. Laughing to yourself, you waved goodbye to Grillby before heading out the door. With your phone in hand, you walked your way back towards your apartment. Despite the fact that your apartment was only 5 minutes away, it was nice to have the street lamps guide your way. Walking alone at night was something you tried to avoid most nights but it seemed as if this time it was a necessity. Not long after your walk, you were able to safely make it back home.

You lived in an apartment complex that was quite nice while also being a reasonable price. With how close it was to Main Street, you had instantly jumped at the chance to buy one for yourself. When you entered the apartment, you ended up in a small entryway that led into the living room. Your living room had a nice red couch along with two matching armchairs. In the middle of the room was a plain black table with a glass top. A decent sized TV hung on the white walls while several shelves full of games and movies seemed to line the wall beneath it. The light wooden floors were cold to the touch and often caused you to shiver.

Beside the living room was the kitchen and dining area. The kitchen had several hanging cupboards that were filled with dishes while a small door hidden in the right corner of the kitchen led to the walk-in pantry. On the left side of the kitchen, you had the stainless four-burner stove and oven as well as a simple marble countertop. Meanwhile, the right side of the kitchen held your stainless steel dishwasher and sink. Along with that, your stainless steel fridge and freezer combo rested on the right side. In the left corner of the kitchen, there was a simple black trash can. With white walls and simple black tile floors, there kitchen was rather easy to keep clean.

The dining area had a black table along with four matching chairs. The floors were a dark wood while the walls had been painted red. While there was a simple light that seemed to dangle over the table, most of the light came from the windows that were nearby. The sight that you could see over the town was pretty nice, although it left a bit to be desired. Off to the side of the dining area, there was a simple bathroom that consisted of a toilet and sink. It was basically the bathroom that any guests used when they came over.

Meanwhile, the left side of the apartment held your bedroom. If anything, you had spent the most time and money decorating your bedroom just how you wanted it. You had a queen-sized bed with simple navy blue sheets, a matching comforter, and several fluffy pillows in varying shades of gray. While the bed was tucked into the back right corner of the room, there was a simple white desk and chair that was in the back left corner of the room. The desk was littered with sheet music and pens of several colors along with your closed laptop. The walls of your bedroom were lined with bookshelves full of books and sheet music. It looked like there wasn’t much room for anything to actually rest on your walls and it made your room seem like a mini-library but you adored it. To the left side of the room, the master bathroom resided along with your closet.

The master bathroom had a white tub pushed to the right that also doubled as a shower if you wanted it to. Meanwhile, the toilet and sink were on the left side of the bathroom. With you walked towards the back of the bathroom, you would reach the door that led to your walk-in closet. Due to all the room within your closet, you had been able to fit a chair and vanity within it. Within the drawers of your vanity were all your hair products and makeup. Usually, you only used those items if you were going out for a fancy party or music gig. Other than that, you never really were one to doll up for no reason.

If you looked to the right side of the bedroom, you could see the glass doors which led to the balcony. Due to several do-it-yourself projects, you had turned the balcony into your own little paradise. You had been able to cover the cold concrete balcony with a rather fluffy white carpet. Meanwhile, the left side of the balcony had a small mattress which had been put down and seemed to perfectly fill the area. The mattress had simple white sheets and a matching comforter, yet there were seemingly dozens of throw pillows in all the colors of the rainbow. However, the right side of the balcony had a rather comfortable white hanging chair with two pillows as well as a small circular black table. The metal railings of the balcony had been wrapped with simple white twinkling lights. Since there was a balcony right above yours, your little paradise was shielding from the rain. Thanks to the balcony above you, you had been able to hang simple white drapes from above it that you were able to draw back and tie in place if you ever wanted to hide your balcony from the outside world.

Entering your apartment on the 6th floor, you made sure to lock the door behind you before dropping your bag on the ground. Carrying your bag of fries over to the living room, you flopped onto the couch and stretched. Kicking off your shoes, you snatched the TV remote before turning on the TV to a random channel. Listening to the drone of the news in the background, you happily munched on fries as you flipped through your phone. Realizing you had a new message, you raised an eyebrow before checking it.

 **_Undyne -_ ** _11:53 PM_

_Hey Punk, I forgot to tell you before we left but we’re having anime night this Saturday and you’re invited! Don’t worry about bringing food, we’ve got that covered! Just bring clothes cause you’re expected to stay the night!_

Staring at the message, you smiled before sending back a simple okay. You couldn’t remember the last time that you had actually slept over at someone’s house but you were pretty excited about it. In fact, you couldn't really remember the last time you had hung out with someone. Usually, you were so busy with your music career that you really didn't have time to hang out. You had lost most of your friends during your college years due to how much time your degree took, yet you were glad to see that you were already starting to being friends with Frisk and their family members. Before long, you ended up falling asleep on your couch with dreams of all the exciting things that could happen at the party.

Well, needless to day, your dreams were far off from what would really end up happening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter ended up with 3497 words! I know that this wasn't a very interesting chapter but I promise that things actually start to pick up in the next chapter. For this one, I was focused on getting the reader introduced to some of the gang as well as getting them home. As for all the description that was put into the apartment, I hope it wasn't too much. I tried my best to cut back on it but I really wanted to build the atmosphere of the living area, especially since the apartment will be coming up quite often throughout the story.
> 
> Hopefully you enjoyed! As always, comments and criticism is always appreciated! If you liked this story, please consider reading my other Sans/Reader one!
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr: http://clockwork-flames.tumblr.com/  
> Please consider supporting me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ClockworkFlames


	4. What's Normal Anymore?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All you wanted was a boring normal day like most humans got to enjoy but of course you just couldn't get that simple luxury.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs Used:
> 
> 1) Hikari Yo by JubyPhonic

Chapter 3 - What's Normal Anymore? 

 

Waking up the next day, you found yourself with an aching back from falling asleep on the couch. With a groan of pain, you rubbed at your eyes with the heels of your hands. Shoving yourself into a sitting position, you heard the familiar clatter of your cell phone hitting the floor as you fumbled around for the TV remote. Finally finding the remote, you picked it up in one hand before grabbing your phone in the other. Turning the TV off, you placed the remote on the table before standing up and stretching a bit. Snatching up the trash from your fries last night, you wandered into the kitchen to toss it out. Once the trash was dealt with, you ended up making your way to the bathroom.

While your shower was uneventful, finding clothes to wear was another experience entirely. Due to your terrible organization skills when it came to your closet, it took forever to find something that went together well. After what felt like an eternity, you tossed on a fitted short-sleeve white sweater which had a deep sabrina collar cut. Along with this, you slipped on a simple black tulle skirt which ended mid-thigh. Taking a moment, you were sure to tuck your sweater into your skirt before putting on some no-show socks. Shoving your feet into a pair of plain black ankle boots, you snatched a black biker jacket off the hanger and put it on. Leaving the jacket unzipped, you glanced at the pile of dirty clothes in the corner of the closet and told yourself you’d deal with it later.

Heading towards the front door, you picked up your trusty gray backpack off of the floor. Opening the bag really quick, you pulled out the musical scores you had from last night and placed them on the floor. Making sure you had your check and wallet inside the bag, you zipped it up soon after and tossed it onto your back. Grabbing your keys out of the side pocket of your bag, you exited your apartment and locked the door behind you. Shoving both your keys and phone into the pocket of your jacket, you walked onto the elevator. Once you were downstairs, you found yourself walking back towards Main Street.

Luckily, it didn’t take you long to reach the bank and cash your check. With nothing else important to do, you wondered just what you were going to do with your day. Wandering the street alone, it wasn’t long before your feet led you to the park in the center of town. Finding a rather shaded area beneath a tree, you curled up against the tree trunk and gazed out at the scenery before you. Since it was still pretty early in the day, there weren’t many people around. However, you could spot a few kids playing around near the small duck pond towards the other end of the park.

Pulling out your cell phone, you flipped through it idly as you tried to occupy yourself. Replying to a few uninteresting text messages about job offers, you absentmindedly nibbled on your bottom lip. Soon enough, you were simply messing around with a few apps on your phone. Playing one of the games you had installed on your phone, it took you by surprise when the app suddenly froze up before shutting down completely. Grumbling to yourself, you checked the time only to realize that an hour had somehow passed. Glancing at the screen of your phone, you were wondering just what you wanted to do next.

Before your thoughts could get anywhere, your phone let out a high pitched wail which caused you to drop it in surprise. The moment your phone hit the grass, the ear-splitting noise stopped. Fearing that you may have broken your phone somehow, you swept it into your hands only to see the screen glitching and full of static. Staring at the screen in confusion, your eyebrows furrowed together as you bit the inside of your cheek. Tapping the screen experimentally, you found that nothing changed as the display continued to malfunction.

Out of the blue, a distorted soul song suddenly assaulted your ears. Wincing from the unexpected noise, you tried to block it out yet it seemed as if the song was able to force its way into your head. Desperately switching between different soul wavelengths, you were horrified to find that the song seemed to be on every single wavelength. It was as if you were changing radio stations yet every single thing had the same song playing. You simply couldn’t escape the song no matter what you tried to do.

Snapping your head up, you desperately tried to find the owner of the song yet you froze at the sight before you. During the hour you had been in the park, it seemed as if everyone had simply vacated it. Not only was the area void of people but the animals that lived in the park had disappeared as well. Forcing yourself to your feet, you found yourself looking in every direction while rooted to your spot. After giving yourself a terrible case of whiplash, your eyes suddenly locked onto a dark figure in the distance. The moment your gaze met the silhouette, it was as if you had suddenly been sucker punched with lyrics.

It was as if you had been dropped into the middle of the soul song while you were overwhelmed with emotions. While the music was distorted and sounded as if the tune was coming through an old mistreated radio, you found yourself still being able to pick up on it. Whoever the song belonged to, they were trying their best to reach out for anyone that could hear them. In this moment, it was becoming increasingly obvious that this person didn’t care who came to their aid as long as they were realized.

The haunting tune seemed to echo through your very being and hollow out your very essence. You found yourself overcome with the hopelessness that the song owner was filled with. Every single word seemed to be dripping with anguish as they tried to keep themselves clinging to this reality. Their own mind was plagued with terrors, though it seemed that even they were unsure if these horrors were fake or a reality. In some strange way, it seemed as if your mind was disconnected from the world and struggling to stay in tact.

 _Please anyone, anyone wake me again_ _  
_ _Horrid dreams, I couldn’t breathe_  
_In the world of the dead_

Without a single thought as to what you were doing, you found yourself running towards the dark silhouette. When you got within arm’s reach, the figure suddenly turned to face you before disappearing. Stumbling from shock, you tripped and fell only to catch yourself with outstretched arms. Forcing yourself back up, you frantically looked around only to spot the figure at the exit of the park as if they were waiting for you. Dusting your hands off on your skirt, you quickly made your way to the figure again. After a few seconds, the dark shadow simply glided into the town as you followed it.

Someone was frantically searching for help, begging to be saved from a nightmare that only they knew of. As the being struggled with their situation, they tried to reassure themselves that they would be saved soon enough. It was as if they would fall apart at the seams as if they didn’t constantly tell themselves that someone was searching for them. Surely they would be saved if they didn’t give up and continued to search for an escape or a helping hand. Waiting in a world where only they resided while trapped in a plane where nothing should be, they existed in a place between the dead and living. With a simple misstep or uncharacteristic error, the being would find themselves stripped of their very existence and soul.

 _I’m begging you, begging you, find me today_ _  
_ _Knowing you’ll surely come for me_  
_Waiting through the grey_

Giving chase to the strange figure, you were unaware of the oddly empty state of Main Street. If you were paying attention to your surroundings, you were have been questioning just why the street seemed so desolate. Even if it was still a little early, Main Street was usually filled with people. However, the being ahead of you had your full attention as you continued to try and catch up. Crying out in hopes that the figure would stop and wait, your breathing was ragged due to all the chasing you were doing yet you refused to simply give up. After what felt like an eternity, it seemed as if you were finally beginning to close the distance between you and the form.

Unable to stop the tears that sprung to your eyes due to the soul song blaring in your head, you felt as if your own soul was being torn apart. It felt as if you had been shoved into the shoes of the person behind this sad soul song. You felt as if you were drowning in darkness with no way of escaping the abyss. With every inch closer you got to the silhouette, it felt as if it was even harder to breathe as the nightmares haunting your mind suffocated you. Having to put more force into every step you took, you struggled to keep your sights set on the being that was trying to escape.

 _Please anyone, anyone wake me again_  
_Horrid dreams, I couldn’t speak_  
_On this star of red_

Watching the form turn the corner, you wondered if it was really trying to escape or not. If the figure was really trying to escape your grasp, it could have just disappeared like it had when you had gotten close the first time. No, the owner of this soul song was trying to lead you somewhere. When you had reached out and tried to touch them, they must have realized that you could hear them. Whoever this person was, they were guiding you to some location in hopes that you would help them. You weren’t sure just what this person might be expecting from you or why they couldn’t just stop and tell you themselves, but you were going to do everything in your power to aid this person. If you were able to use your strange ability to help a person in need, you would do it.

Hearing the song pick up, you assumed that you must be close to the location that the person was guiding you to. However, the soul song suddenly cut off without any warning and the suffocating feeling disappeared without a trace. Despite the fact that you had never heard the soul song before, something in your soul simply told you that the song wasn’t supposed to end in such a way. Panic blooming in your chest at the thought that the person may have gotten hurt, you tried your best to speed up in hopes of figuring out what had happened. Reaching the corner yourself, you quickly turned without giving yourself a chance to slow down or check for anything in the way.

 _Anywhere, anywhere, but where can I be?_  
_Wanting you more and waiting for_  
_You to come and se-_

Crashing into something, you let out a shocked yelp as you fell backwards and landed on your butt. Wincing as you hit the concrete rather roughly, you glanced upward only to recognize the person you had run into. Meeting the questioning gaze of Sans, the skeletal monster had a brow bone raised as he stared down at you. Beside the monster was Frisk, their concerned gaze never leaving your form as they held out a hand for you. Taking the child’s hand, you pulled yourself to your feet as you scanned the area for the figure that you had been following. Finding that the form was nowhere to be seen, you let out a soft sigh before releasing the brunette’s hand.

Out of the blue, it felt as if you were suddenly within a swarm of people. While the street had been empty just moments ago, running into Sans had practically been like flipping a switch as there were now people everywhere you looked. Not only was the sudden change confusing but it also hurt your head to think about. Had the people been there the whole time and you were simply blind to their presence or had you really been running on empty streets until a moment ago? At this point, you weren’t really sure anymore.

Snapping yourself out of your thoughts, you quickly snatched your phone out of your pocket and checked it. Finding that all the glitching and static was gone, you found yourself at a loss to what had just happened. Nowadays, it felt as if you weren’t even sure how your own abilities worked anymore. First you had encountered the strange soul song of the young child before you and now your mind had been violated by a soul song that you couldn’t escape from no matter what you tried. Shaking your head, you decided to pursue that train of thought later as you dropped your phone back into your pocket.

“Thanks Sweetheart,” you hummed, once again dusting your hands off on your skirt. Checking your hands for cuts from your rough fall, you were glad to find that you weren’t bleeding. Shoving your hands into the pockets of your biker jacket, it took a moment before you spoke again, “You know, I never thought that I’d literally run into someone while out and about. It’s usually just an expression. I didn’t hurt either of you with my collision course, did I?”

“both of us are fine. are you alright though? you seemed to be going somewhere in a hurry,” Sans stated, his eyes never leaving your form. Nibbling on your bottom lip, you were well aware of the fact that you wouldn’t be able to avoid this question. Trying to word the answer in a way that wouldn’t pull your abilities into the equation, you found yourself struggling for anything to use. Setting on a lame explanation, you simply hoped that you would be able to get away with it.

“I’m alright, it’s not like I’ve never fallen over before. I just thought that I had seen an old friend from college and I was trying to catch up with them but it seems like I lost them in the crowd,” you smoothly lied, hoping it would make enough sense. Not giving either of them a chance to question your explanation, your eyes left Sans’ form and moved to Frisk. Squatting down to meet the brunette’s height, you questioned, “What about you? It’s a Friday so I’m rather surprised that you’re not in school by now.”

Watching Frisk sign a few things, you glanced up at Sans in hopes that he would explain things for you. Realizing that you couldn’t understand sign language, the monster easily translated for you, “Frisk says that they don’t have school today since they have important ambassador duties to do later today. Right now, we’re out getting some ingredients that their mom needs for dinner tonight. They wanna know if you’ll join them.”

“I’d be honored to join you, Sweetie,” you chirped, straightening up as a smile overtook your face. Ruffling the young child’s hair, you paused for a moment before sweeping the kid off their feet. Pulling the shocked kid into a hug, their airy giggles soon filled the air as you cooed, “You’re too good for this world! Sans doesn’t deserve you, you’re too sweet. If you keep being this cute, I’m going to end up moving in with you and asserting myself as your older sister.”

“wow, don’t you know it’s rude to talk about something right in front of them?” Sans snickered, rolling his eyes at your actions. While you were hugging Frisk, the child seemed to sign something at the skeleton. Pretending to be insulted, the monster made a big show of throwing a hand over where his heart would be as he gasped, “i can’t believe you’d say such a thing, kiddo. certainly there’s no way that this newcomer has already taken my place in your heart as favorite! oh, woe is me.”

Unable to hold back your own laughter, you placed the brunette back down on their feet. Raising an eyebrow, your smile grew into a grin as you placed your hands on your hips. Unable to hold yourself back, you teased, “Are you saying that they’ve broken your heart? Sorry to say, but I’m pretty sure you lack the organ for that. In fact, I’m pretty sure you lack all your organs since you’re pretty bare bones.”

Pausing for a moment, Sans took in your words before his permanent smile grew into something that seemed much more real. Holding back his own laughter, the skeleton quickly retaliated, “that was a bit of a stretch, kid. gotta say though, it sounds like you’ve got a bone to pick with me. you might want to think this through before you start a pun war, especially since i’ve got a skeleton of material to work with. i’m pretty humerus and that’s not a fibula, just ask the kiddo. tibia honest, they can patella you all about the countless puns i’ve made.”

“Okay okay, I give up! I don’t think I’ve ever heard that many puns before in one go. Pretty sure you just filled the quota of puns I can handle in one day,” you joked, raising your hands in surrender. Letting your hands fall back down to your sides soon after, you glanced at Frisk before winking at the kid, “I’m pretty sure you were in the middle of running errands so we should probably do that. Why don’t you lead the way, Sweetie?”

Excited by your words, Frisk grabbed your right hand in their left before grabbing Sans’ hand with their other. Not waiting another moment, the child was quick to lead both of you towards the destination they had planned. Doing your best to keep up with the child’s pace, you giggled as you continued the small talk. While Sans was helping with keeping the conversation going, there were times that he would throw in a joke or pun for no reason. Though the chat would go off course once in awhile and end up somewhere random, it was interesting and kept you laughing.

Making sure to keep your eyes on the area ahead of you, you were unaware of Sans’ gaze on your form as you walked together with Frisk. While neither he nor Frisk had said it, both of them were still curious about your performance back at Grillby’s. After they had left the bar that night, the two of them had ended up in a rather interesting conversation. Certainly there was no way that you could have known what had happened while everyone was trapped Underground, so how in the world had you been able to sing about what had happened to them?

Neither of them had expected much of anything when you had sung a song for Frisk. Sure, the lyrics has been filled with emotions that practically screamed all about the child’s journey in the Underground but you had never explicitly said anything that they could link to the occurrence. There may had been a few words or sentences here and there that may have alluded to everything but nothing concrete. If that had been all you had sung, they probably would have just brushed it off as simple coincidence or maybe even luck.

However, the song you had sung for him was much different and way more alarming. Not only had you been able to practically take the words out of his mouth from his fights with Frisk, you had also brought up the timeline and resetting. The moment they had heard that, the two of them had known something was up. Neither of them had ever mentioned those things to anyone else, making it impossible for you to have somehow overheard it from someone else. It was unnerving and they were unsure of just what to do about the situation.

Despite the songs you had sung, Frisk trusted you and was giving you a chance to prove your worth. The child was sure that you were a good person and there was nothing to be worried about. With time, the brunette was hoping that you would open up to them and possibly tell them just how you had been able to sing such songs. Meanwhile, Sans was unsure just what to think about you. While you seemed nice enough, he had seen first-hand that people could put on a show only to harm people he cared about in the long run.

For the time being, he was going to try giving you an opportunity to show that you were an okay person. Even so, the skeleton monster was certainly going to keep an eye socket on you. The moment you made a wrong move or ran the risk of hurting the people he cared for, he was going to make you regret it before forcing answers out of you. If Frisk knew about those thoughts, they probably wouldn’t approve of it but at this point Sans wasn’t really looking for approval. He simply wanted to know that things would turn out alright.

Though your laughs permeated the air, it seemed as if everything wasn’t as carefree and joyous as you believed it to be. Blissfully unaware of what your two new friends were thinking, you found yourself joking as if everything was fine. While smiles were shared all around, you were unaware of the secrets these two held within themselves. Perhaps these secrets were darker and hidden better than your own.

As time ticked onwards, you were unaware of just what was happening behind the scenes of your little world. If only you had a heads up, then maybe you would have been more prepared for the things to come in the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a little note for myself but the chapter is 3630 without the lyrics and 3701 with the lyrics. 
> 
> I must say, I'm rather pleased with how this chapter turned out. The reason it took me a while is because I wasn't sure exactly what song I wanted to use. Literally, most of the time it took to make this chapter was finding a song that would fit the emotions I wanted to bring while also suiting the character it related to. I think it went pretty well but I'd love to here what you have to say. Hopefully this chapter was a bit more interesting and fun than the last one. I know that chapter 3 was a little on the slower side but I gotta build a story and relationships.
> 
> I also suck at chapter titles, just saying.
> 
> As always, comments and criticism is always appreciated! 
> 
> Please consider following me on my tumblr ( http://clockwork-flames.tumblr.com/ ) where art for both this story and my other one will be posted. Along with that, there'll be deleted chapter scenes and parody chapters! You're also free to message me there and send me literally anything.


	5. An Unexpected Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After ending up with a rather awkward atmosphere in the middle of grocery shopping, you get a date that you weren't expecting...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, I'd like to thank the lovely Devinely for making fanart of the last chapter! It was absolutely amazing and I'm honored that you like my story so much that you wanted to draw some part of it. Please take a moment to look at the stunning art that they've made! 
> 
> Link: http://theawesomedevinely.deviantart.com/art/Song-of-the-Soul-fanart-646495738
> 
> Also, before we start this chapter, I just want to apologize that this took so long! I've had quite a few problems writing this chapter since I had some terrible luck with it not saving. I literally lost this entire chapter THREE TIMES and I'm really disappointed since I feel as if it just doesn't live up to the first time I wrote the chapter. It shouldn't happen again but I'm pretty upset it did. Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 4 - An Unexpected Date

 

The walk to the grocery store had taken around fifteen minutes, yet the walk had seemed much shorter due to all the jokes that had been tossed around. Grinning from ear to ear, you walked beside Frisk and Sans as they picked up the items they needed. At some point, you had ended up grabbing a cart so that the two could stop their odd balancing act with the items in their hands. Glancing over the list that Frisk had typed out on their phone, you wondered just what kind of dinner they were having if the ingredients ranged from butterscotch and cinnamon to spaghetti and snails. While you were a bit concerned about it all, you hoped that it was just going to be a large meal and not some odd concoction of all these items mixed together.

Grocery shopping had been filled with laughter and terrible food puns. Sans was definitely the best when it came to making puns on the spot but both you and Frisk had tried your best to keep up. In the end, you and Frisk had both given Sans the title of ‘Terrible Pun Master’ which only lead to another onslaught of puns. The puns had only stopped when you had jokingly begged for mercy in hopes of being spared the pain of such horrendous jokes. The moment you had spoken the word, it felt as if everything had been halted in its tracks for a slight moment before continuing on.

Though the two were still talking with you, everything seemed much more subdued and you found yourself unsure of what had just happened. You felt as if you should apologize but you weren’t exactly sure why. The two seemed a little more tense and you found yourself unable to speak up and ask if they were alright. If you had said something wrong, you wished that they would just tell you so it wouldn’t happen again. Listening to Frisk and Sans chat with each other, you kept quiet and grabbed the last few items that were needed.

After Frisk triple checked that everything on the list was in the cart, you pushed it over to the register and helped with putting everything on the table. While the cashier put the groceries in bags, you began to place the bagged items into the cart. Everything went surprisingly smooth throughout the entire trip. Even as Sans paid the cashier, there weren’t any hate-filled looked or venomous words exchanged. Knowing that everything had played out smoothly, you found yourself glad that things had turned out so well.

Once outside, the three of you all grabbed a few bags before beginning the journey to Toriel’s house. While Frisk had the lighter bags, you and Sans had ended up carrying the heavier items. For someone who seemed rather lazy, it was surprising to see the skeleton monster carrying at least six or seven plastic bags full of food. Now that you paid attention at the amount of bags there were, you wondered if Toriel was planning to cook food for a small army of monsters. Honestly, the amount of food seemed ridiculous for what was apparently a small trip meant to only get a few missing ingredients.

Walking a little behind Frisk and Sans, you weren’t really paying attention to whatever they were speaking about. While they spoke, it seemed as if their words were simply indistinguishable murmurs in your ears. After what had happened a few minutes ago in the grocery store, you were a little nervous to start speaking with them again. Though the two had never said that they were upset with you, that didn’t help the fact that you felt put out by their odd behavior earlier. You had never seen two people react to the word ‘mercy’ strongly before. The moment you had uttered the word, both had gone pale as if they had seen a ghost and you were nearly positive that the lights in Sans’ eye sockets might have gone out for a moment.

Throughout your life, you had often said mercy when messing around with friends. Growing up with your parents through elementary school, it had been a word you spoke whenever you were trying to get out of eating your vegetables. Whenever you were in the midst of a tickle fight during your middle school years, sometimes one of your friends would cry it out if they were struggling to breathe through their laughter. For the times that you and your best friend had struggled through a test in your high school years, you would both scream the word in the middle of lunch for all to hear. Even during college, you had muttered the word under your breath as you ran to your class all the way across campus with only two minutes to get there though it usually took ten. For a word that had so many different emotions and pleasant memories attached to it, you wondered how such a seemingly innocent word could practically terrify two people when spoken.

While you were rather curious about what could bring someone to be so scared of a simple word, some part deep within you seemed to be terrified at the possibility of finding out.

* * *

After what felt like an eternity of walking, you found yourself standing in front of a rather large house that was located close to the outskirts of town. Eyes wide open, you stared up at the beautiful three-story home that stood before you. The house was an odd mixture of contemporary and modern, yet the architect who had designed the home had put them together perfectly. With the warm light brown wood, cool gray stone, and white concrete making up the outer walls of the home, the place was oddly inviting. Overall, the place had a tropical vibe to it and reminded you of a summer on the beach.

From what you could see, the place was full of glass doors and windows to take in the panoramic view of the nature around the home. There were also two balconies that you could see on the left side of the house. The balcony on the third story seemed to have a 270 degree view of the property while the balcony on the second floor only looked over the front of the house. With all the space that the property had, it was able to host large groups both indoors and outdoors. As you followed Frisk and Sans towards the front door, you caught sight of the lovely pond with several water jets shooting out of the pond. Within the water, there were lily pads scattered throughout as well as a few palm trees living on small pieces of land placed throughout the pond. On the right side, there was a little herb garden that seemed to be well taken care of. Each plant had a small sign which stated what the plant was and some of the uses for it. Whoever the gardener was, they had obviously put their heart into it.

Standing slightly behind your two acquaintances, you watched as Frisk hopped up on their tiptoes and unlocked the glass front door before pushing it open. Once Frisk was inside, Sans followed after them. Entering the house, you closed the door behind yourself before glancing around. Hearing some idle chatter coming from the right side of the hallway. Wandering inside, you soon found yourself within the kitchen. Staring from the entrance of the kitchen, you watched silently as the small skeleton chatted with a rather tall, white-furred goat monster. As Frisk fluttered around the kitchen and put the groceries away, the two adult monsters were laughing and telling jokes that you couldn’t properly hear.

The kitchen was a rather large open space and was also connected to the dining room. From where you were standing, you were able to easily see all of the kitchen yet you could only catch a glance of the dining area. Focusing on the room you were currently in, your eyes moved away from the white painted wall separating the entrance hallway from the kitchen. Admiring the gray stone wall, you noticed that the stones were placed to make intricate swirl designs. As for the floor, you noticed two light blue carpets resting against the pale wood floors. Dragging your line of sight upwards, you glanced from the left side of the room to the right.

Up against the white wall, there was a pale yellow trash can that was easy to miss. Soon after, there was a line of white counters that made a small L-shape once reaching the corner made by the white and gray stone walls meeting. All the counters had marble countertops and two-doored storage space beneath it. From what you could tell, most of the space on the countertops was taken up by the grocery bags Frisk and Sans had brought in. Pulling you sight away from that, you took notice of the stainless steel stove which was centered against the stone wall. Several pans of different sizes were hung above the stove and you were surprised to see that they were all spotless. Looking to the right of the stove, you caught sight of the large sink which was built into a similar counter as the others. Beside that, there was also a tall, two-door refrigerator which was also made of stainless steel.

While the two adults were seemingly unaware of your presence, you took the time to take in the appearance of the goat monster. At first, your eyes quickly caught sight of the small set of sharp horns that curled inwards slightly. Two floppy ears hung down from the monster’s head, making it a little past the creature's shoulders. Besides that, a pair of fangs were visible as the goat laughed at yet another pun that had been tossed out. Long eyelashes seemed to surround her soft eyes, which were a surprisingly pretty dark red. In fact, her eyes reminded you of a glass of red wine. The figure wore a long purple robe that displayed the Delta Rune - a symbol that had become known as the royal crest for monsters. The symbol was a striking white that seemed to make it pop out on the robe. As the monster moved her hand to cover up her mouth and hold back a laugh, you eyes caught sight of the paws that she had for hands.

Watching the three interact, you were reminded of a tightly knit family. You weren’t exactly sure of the relationship between all three of them but you remembered Frisk telling you that the ingredients were meant for their mother. Assuming that the goat woman was who the groceries were intended for, that made the monster Frisk’s mom. You found it sweet and didn’t personally care how others may see it. However, you did feel as if you were on the outside of a window and looking into a perfect home. It felt as if you had simply been forgotten and that there was simply no room for you to fit yourself into the picture. Awkwardly shifting from one leg to the other, you mumbled, “Guess I’ll just put these down and head out. I don’t wanna intrude or anything…”

Catching the attention of the goat monster, the woman seemed a little surprised to see you before relaxing a bit. Walking around Sans, the tall figure made her way in front of you before Frisk grasped onto the the long skirt of her robe. Glancing down at Frisk, the creature knelt down as wine red eyes seemed to take in all the hand signs the child made. Soon enough, a flash of recognition made its way into the fluffy monster’s eyes, “Oh! This is the musician from Grillby’s that you were telling me about? Why, how nice!”

Easily pushing herself back onto her feet, the monster turned her attention to you once more. With a soft smile on her face, the woman held out a hand to you which you gladly took. Giving you a firm handshake, the woman let go soon after, “It’s nice to meet you, _____. My child has told me quite a bit about you after witnessing your performance at Grillby’s last night. My name is Toriel, yet feel free to call me by another name if you so choose.”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” you reply, a small smile making its way onto your own face. As the weight of all the grocery bags on your arms started to hurt, you glanced around before quickly catching sight of what you were searching for. With a few easy steps, you found yourself setting the bags down on the marble counter top of the only empty space left on the kitchen counters. Once everything was on the counter, you turned to face Toriel before stating, “I should probably head out and let you start cooking that dinner Frisk told me about.”

Doing your best to give a polite smile, you turned to leave onto to feel someone grab onto your hand. A bit surprised from the sudden contact, you glanced over your shoulder only to meet thin air. Raising an eyebrow, you glanced downward slightly to see Frisk firmly holding onto your right hand with their left. Turning their attention to Toriel, the brunette child quickly signed something out for their mother. Almost instantly, the goat grinned, “Why Frisk, that’s a lovely idea!”

“What’s a good idea?” you question, moving your eyes to look at Toriel. Obviously overjoyed at whatever Frisk had suggested, the woman was quick to explain, “Frisk wanted to invite you to stay for dinner and I think it’s a great idea. I know that there’s quite a bit of time before evening even comes around but I’m sure my child would adore having your company for the day. Of course, that’s if you’re alright with sticking around. It’s completely understandable if you have prior plans for today since we did spring this on you just now.”

“Oh! Well, I mean…” you fumbled, starting to nibble on your bottom lip. Glancing away from Toriel, your eyes briefly scanned over Sans’ questioning gaze before resting onto Frisk’s hopeful brown eyes. Though you felt a little out of place within the household, it seemed like Frisk and Toriel really did want you to stick around for dinner. You weren’t sure how Sans felt about you sticking around but his opinion in the matter wasn’t important to you. Watching as Frisk gave you their best puppy dog face, you sighed before giving a half smile. Rolling your eyes, you turned to face the child before ruffling their mussy hair with your left hand, “When you give me a face like that, I simply can’t refuse. Why don’t you show me around, Sweetie?”

With a huge grin on their face, Frisk was about to drag you out of the room before Toriel quickly stopped them. Fixing the child’s hair, the kind monster stated, “While you and _____ go play, Sans and I will be here getting everything ready for the dinner party tonight. We’ll have to leave for a bit around lunch so make sure not to get your clothes dirty. Now then, run along and show your new friend around!”

Giving a curt nod, the brunette child grinned up at your before pulling you out of the kitchen. Almost slipping from the sudden momentum, you stumbled a few steps before miraculously regaining your balance. Allowing the energetic brunette to lead you, they brought you up to the second floor before taking a quick left. Heading down the hallway, the child threw open the door at the end of the hall to reveal their bedroom. Pulling you inside, Frisk was practically bouncing in place as they closed the door and waited for you to take it all in.

While all the walls were a very pale purple, the bottom part of the walls had been painted with a light brown to look like wild grass. As for the floor, they were a pale wood just like the kitchen had been. There was one section of the room which was carpeted pale blue and it reminded you of a small oasis in a desert. There was a glass sliding door to the right of the room, leading to the small balcony you has seen from outside. The balcony was made of white wood with shade given from the balcony above. With a great view of both the front and back yards, you wouldn’t be surprised if Frisk spent a lot of their time on it.

Glancing to the left, you noticed a twin bed resting in the corner of the room. The bed had a sky blue comforter resting over it while a plain white pillow leaned against the pale wood headboard. Below the bed, there was a circular yellow carpet which was only half visible due to its position. A little bit away from the bed, there was a white wood bookshelf pushed against the wall. Since the bookshelf only had two shelves, the window above it wasn’t blocked out. While the shelves were stocked with books, there were also a few knickknacks resting on top.

On the right side of the room, the first thing you noticed was the wooden desk pushed into the corner across from the bed. The desk had three sky blue drawers below it on the right side. Looking at the tags on the shelves, it seemed as if they were filled with a plethora of art supplies. There was a closed laptop centered on the desk, yet you also noticed that there seemed to be a potted plant beside it. The singular buttercup looked lonely in its ceramic red pot, yet you weren’t sure why you thought so. Above the right side of the desk, there were three pale gray shelves connected to the wall. Most of these had picture frames on them, yet the top shelf had something you couldn’t clearly make out. Standing before the desk was a pale wood chair with a sky blue back. If you looked on the wall to the right of the desk, there was a tack board sticking to the wall. While the board was mostly bare, there were two or three drawings pinned to it.

Besides that, there was a seemingly new acoustic guitar resting in the other corner on the right side of the room. Placed on its stand, you were surprised you hadn’t seen the brightly colored instrument first. The guitar was colored with a right red center which darkened as it got to the outer edges of the body. While the bridge and neck were a normal mahogany brown, the pickguard and tuning machines were white. Overall, it was a beautiful instrument for a beginner. If you had the time, perhaps you would teach Frisk some easy songs. Of course, that was only if they wanted your help since you wouldn’t want to impose on the child.

“Well Frisk, it looks like we’ve got a play date to start,” you chirped, turned to face the child once more. With a grin on your face, you placed your hands on your hips before asking, “What do you wanna do first, Sweetie?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you think you were gunna have a date with Sans? OF COURSE NOT! This is slow burn baby, you don't get to date the skeleton in the fourth chapter. Hell, I'm the author that kept the Reader in my other story within the Ruins for 10 CHAPTERS, there is no way I'm gunna give you the fluff that quick. Seriously though, I'm a terrible tease with that chapter title and I'm (kinda) sorry about that.
> 
> This chapter is only 3228 words and most of it is just descriptions of the house, yet I promise the next chapter picks up more. We'll be meeting a few more character as well as having a few important events begin to unfold. I can't say much about what's going to happen but I'll tell you that someone else's soul song is going to be sung soon enough. Wanna take a guess at who you think it is?
> 
> Heads up, I won't be able to update next week since I have finals. However, after that, I'll have a month off and I plan on pushing out more chapters then.
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoyed! Comments and criticism is always appreciated.


	6. A Sour Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things always start with a sour note but certainly it'll get better... right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back from exams! Thanks for being so patient everyone.

Chapter 5 - A Sour Note 

 

Hearing your words, Frisk seemed to light up with joy before pausing for a moment. Quickly making their way over to the wooden desk, they picked up the potted plant before turning to face you once more. Walking towards you with the pot wrapped up in their arms, the brunette child stopped in front of you before holding the ceramic pot towards you. Confused at what Frisk was trying to do, you gingerly took the plant into your own hands. Glancing between the buttercup and the child, you deadpanned, “I don’t get what you want me to do here, Sweetie…”

“Frisk!” the flower within your arm spat, taking you by surprise. Looking down at the buttercup, you finally look notice of the face that the flower had. Instead of a normal buttercup, the flower in your arms was yet another monster. Still processing this information, you didn’t interrupt the plant monster, “If you’re going to disturb me when I’m resting, at least have the decency to not hand me over to idiotic humans! Humans are all annoying and gross creatures, it’s why I didn’t want to come up to the surface!”

Catching onto the insult directed towards you, a frown made its way onto your face as your eyebrows furrowed together. It seemed like you had been cast into the middle of an argument with no information of just what the problem was. From what you could tell, the flower monster was pretty angry and you assumed it was because you were a human. The way the monster spoke reminded you of a young child throwing a temper tantrum. That thought caused you to bite down on your bottom lip and hold back a laugh. While you were trying to keep your composure, Frisk gave the golden flower a rather stern look before signing something.

“Fine! You win this time,” the flower groaned, muttering something under his breath before turning to you. Not bothering to hide his displeasure, the buttercup hissed, “My name is Flowey, got it? I don’t care what your name is so don’t bother telling me. I’m only introducing myself because Frisk said they’ll taking away my gaming privileges if I don’t. Now that that’s over, put me back down on the desk before your grubby hands leave nasty fingerprints all over my pot!”

“Yeah, nice to meet you too,” you mumbled sarcastically, walking around Frisk to place Flowey back on the desk. With a sigh, you shook your head before feeling a tug on your skirt. Glancing down, you noticed the brunette child seemed a little upset about what had transpired. Letting your initial anger leave you with a sigh, you squatted down to meet the child and gave them a half smile. Once again ruffling Frisk’s hair, you stated, “Don’t worry, I’ll get over it. I know you wanted me to meet your friend but it would be silly to think that people can get along with everyone right away. With time, I’m sure that Flowey’s tough exterior will crumble.”

“I can hear you, idiot! Just because I’m a flower, it doesn’t make me deaf!” the buttercup growled, picking up a pen with his vines and tossing it at you. Rolling your eyes at his words, you kept your eyes on Frisk as the pen harmlessly hit your back before landing on the ground. As if unsure of your words, the young brunette nervously fumbled around with the hem of their shirt. After a moment, you had the child meet your eyes before you spoke once more, “You look much better with a smile on your face, Frisk. I’d prefer if you kept smiling. Please, don’t worry about it. Let’s just focus on our play date.”

Finally taking in your words, the brunette child seemed to relax before flashing you a grin. Snatching your hand, Frisk waited for you to stand up before pulling you along. Opening the door to the balcony, the child had you sit down before on the cool wooden balcony before running back inside. Checking your phone for a minute, you were rather surprised to see that it was only 10 AM. You could have sworn it had been further through the day but perhaps the strange occurrence back at the park had skewed your sense of time. Shaking your head, you tried to pray your mind off of that subject for the time being. You didn’t want to focus on what had happened until you were alone.

While you basked in the warm rays of the sun, your eyes gazed out over the rather beautiful view before you. Since the house was on the edge of town, you were able to see the silhouettes of the skyscrapers that resided on Main Street. If you looked at the industrial area on the other side of town, you could tell just how much humans relied on modern technology as the buildings touched the sky and fumes billowed out of smokestacks and through the air. However, looking to the right gave you a breathtaking view of Mt. Ebbot and the forest which covered the entire mountain. Just by looking at Mt. Ebbot, it felt as if the magic hidden beneath the earth was radiating off the area and giving it a rather ethereal presence. It was as if Toriel’s home resided on the border of two completely different realms and you couldn’t help but be amazed.

Hearing Frisk’s footfalls, you glanced back at the glass sliding door to see the young child there with their guitar in hand. After placing the guitar in your lap, the child closed the sliding door before sitting in front of you. Taking the acoustic guitar into your hands, you played a simple cord only to wince at how out of tune the instrument sounded. Looking up at the brunette child, you raised an eyebrow when you saw that their eyes were practically glittering with excitement. Nibbling your bottom lip, you questioned, “Do you want me to teach you how to play?”

Almost instantly, the child gave to a nod of confirmation. Smiling at their enthusiasm, you moved to sit beside Frisk before placing the guitar in their hand. Pulling out your cell phone, you opened up the tuning app you had downloaded a while back. Placing the phone down on the ground, you glanced at the brunette child before stating, “First, let’s start with tuning the guitar. You turn the strings by turning the knobs at the head of the instrument. Tightening the strings raises the pitch while loosening them lowers the pitch. I’ll help you tune the instrument and after that, I’ll teach you about the basics of frets and strings. If things go well, hopefully I’ll be able to teach you all the principals of playing and possibly even get you to learn ‘Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star’. How does that sound?”

It seemed as if their grin only grew wider at your words as they vigorously nodded before starting strum the 1st string of the instrument with their thumb. While you had originally started learning with a pick, you found it easier to simply strum with the nail of your thumb and it seemed as if Frisk was the same way. With determination flowing through their veins, Frisk was easy to teach and quick to learn just what to do. Before you knew it, three hours had passed by as you taught Frisk how to play. Not only had the child learned all the fundamentals of playing the guitar but they had also successfully played Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star. While the song certainly hadn’t been perfect, it had been pretty good for a beginner. While you were praising Frisk, the sound of the sliding door opening caught your attention.

“Oh my! Looks like we have stumbled upon a pair of musicians at work,” Toriel’s warm voice giggled, causing you to look up at her. As the woman moved towards Frisk, you scooped your phone off the ground before standing up. With a small smile on your face, you watched as the brunette child began to sign to their mother. While watching the two interact, it took a moment before you felt as if someone’s eyes were on you. Casting your eyes back towards the sliding door, you noticed Sans standing in the doorway. You could have sworn he wasn’t there a moment ago but perhaps his form had just been hidden behind Toriel. Leaving Frisk and Toriel to chat amongst themselves for a moment, you turned on your heel and carefully moved past the small skeleton. As if nothing had happened, the stout skeleton turned his attention to Frisk and Toriel before cracking a few puns.

Before you could react, you were taken by surprise as something slammed into your back. Feeling something wrap around your waist, your heart started to frantically beat as you tried to figure out what was going one. Glancing down, you caught sight of the sweater-clad arms of Frisk. Starting to relax, you let out a sigh of relief before the brunette child released you. Turning to face the young child, you smiled, “I’m guessing that you have to go to that meeting with Toriel so our guitar lesson is done for today. You did great for your first day practicing, Sweetie. I can tell you’re gonna be great.”

Returning a smile of their own, Frisk signed something to you. Remembering that you weren’t able to understand sign language, the brunette caught the attention of Sans. Glancing between you and Frisk, Sans raised an eyebrow before turning to face the child, “what’s up, kiddo? am i back to being your official translator for the day?”

With a nod of their head, Frisk signed something once again. While you weren’t able to read sign, you noticed that not all the signs were the same as whatever they had said last time. After watching Frisk’s hands patiently, Sans finally turned to face you, “frisk said that they’ll have to teach you sign language since you’re showing them how to play the guitar. to patella the truth, i think that’s a great idea. it means i can stop being the middleman in all your conversations.”

Holding back a laugh at the pun that had been tossed in, you gave a nod, “Sounds like a great idea, Frisk. When you get back from that meeting you and Toriel have to go to, we can start then. Of course, that’s if you’re feeling up to it when you get back. If not, we can always try some other day.”

Hearing your words, Frisk gave a thumbs up before moving to grab a pair of socks from their closet. While the young child did that, Toriel came off the balcony before closing and locking the door behind her. With Frisk’s guitar in hand, the goat monster gently put it back on its stand. After that, the motherly figure made her way towards you and Sans. Smiling down at you, the woman spoke, “Thank you so much for teaching Frisk how to play. They got the guitar as a gift for Christmas last year and they have wanted to play it ever since but I just could not find anyone that was giving lessons.”

“It’s not a problem, Toriel. Frisk is an absolute sweetheart but their little companion is a little… questionable,” you replied, your eyes glancing towards the desk where Flowey rested. It seemed as if he hadn’t heard you since he was too busy grumbling to himself and messing around with some paper on the desk. For a moment, Sans and Toriel seemed confused by your words before realization flashed through the furry monster’s eyes, “You must be talking about Flowey. I should have known that Frisk would introduce you to him. While I must admit that Flowey is quite rude, he has gradually improved from how he was when we first moved above ground.”

“He’s improved, huh? I guess I should take that as a blessing,” you muttered under your breath, holding back the urge to roll your eyes. If his current state was the best he had been in a long time, you were horrified to think of how he must have been long ago. Shaking the thoughts from your head, you straightened up before stating, “I guess you and Frisk have to get going. Would you want me to head out for the time being? I wouldn’t want to stay around in the house while you’re both out.”

“Sans will be staying behind to keep an eye on some of the desserts that are still baking so feel free to stick around. We should not be out too long. By the time we get back, our friends will probably be arriving for the dinner tonight. Everyone tends to show up early so that we can catch up a bit first. From what Sans told me, you already met a few of the people who are coming at night. They were at Grillby’s with him so not everyone showing up tonight will be a new face,” Toriel explained, a soft smile on her face. It seemed like she was subtly trying to reassure you that things would be alright and you were really grateful for her efforts.

Hearing a clattering sound, you turned only to see Frisk pulling something out from under the bed. Watching in confusion, it wasn’t until they placed the object on top of their bed that you realized what it was. Looking over the electric keyboard they had, it wasn’t long before the child grabbed the stand out from under the bed and put it down as well. Turning to face you, the brunette child pointed at the keyboard before turning their finger to you. Easily able to understand the message they were trying to convey this time, you pointed out, “I’d love to play for you Frisk but you and your mother have a meeting to get to.”

Watching Frisk sign once again, you glanced at Sans and Toriel in hopes that one of them would translate for you. Turning her head to look at you, Toriel was the one to answer your unspoken question, “My child is hoping that you could play a song at dinner tonight. They really want the rest of our friends to hear you playing and I must admit that I am rather interested in hearing you play as well.”

“I mean… I can play at dinner if you want but a keyboard certainly won’t sound as good as a piano does. I’m sure I’ll be able to make it work though,” you replied, not surprised that Frisk wanted you to play again. The child had seemed enamored with your music back at Grillby’s so it was only a matter of time before they asked you to play again. If anything, you were more surprised that they hadn’t asked you sooner.

“the kiddo wants to know if you can write a song with someone else like you did with me and them back at grillby’s,” Sans cut in, pulling you away from your train of thought. You hadn’t seen Frisk sign but you shrugged it off as you simply being lost in thought. Thinking it over, you wondered if it would be a good idea to play a soul song at the dinner. Since you had played two soul songs back at Grillby’s and no one had noticed, you guessed it would be alright to play one at dinner.

“Sure I can, Sweetie. I’m guessing you want me and Toriel to write a song together?” you asked, your body already moving to prepare yourself. However, Frisk stopped you before you could even ask for Toriel’s hands. Pausing in your stride, you raised an eyebrow before squatting down before the young child, “If not your mother, then who? I’ve already played your song and Sans’ song. The songs won’t change in such a small amount of time.”

After a moment, Frisk simply pointed over your shoulder. Following their finger, your lips soon fell into a frown as you realized that they were pointing at Flowey. You were certain that if you looked in a mirror, your skin would be pale by now. A feeling of dread seemed to overtake you as you realized that there was no way you would be able to talk yourself out of this. Meekly, you whispered, “Flowey…? Frisk, I don’t know if Flowey will even let me get close enough to write a song with him…”

Before you could protest any more, Toriel spoke up, “Well, I am quite excited to see what kind of song you and Flowey will create together! I would love to stay around but if Frisk and I stay any longer, we will certainly be late.”

Watching in stunned silence, Toriel scooped Frisk into her arms before telling you and Sans goodbye. Once they exited the room, the place was silent before the sound of a car starting up came from outside. After the sound of the car disappeared, you turned to look at Sans. Catching his attention, the skeleton raised an eyebrow as he looked at you. Without a second thought, you deadpanned, “Sans, I’m so boned. Since you’re a skeleton, can you please pretend to be Death-personified and kill me right now? I’ll even pay for the tacky black robe and scythe.”

You don’t think you’ve ever seen someone laugh so hard in your life. Too bad he was laughing at your misery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up being 3000 words on the dot. I wanted it to be longer but if I had continued it, the chapter certainly would have become WAY too long. As for the chapter title, it's a hint at more than just the bad guitar notes. If you catch on, it's also a hint at Flowey's rudeness towards the Reader and the fact that the Reader is stuck in a situation where they have to play Flowey's soul song.
> 
> "BUT WAIT!" I hear you shouting, "Does Flowey even HAVE a soul song?" 
> 
> Well, I guess you'll have to wait and see.
> 
> Anyway, the little part at the end with 'death-personified' is a little reference towards Reapertale by renrink on Tumblr. It's one of my favorite AUs and I thought I would just put in the little reference while I had the chance since it seemed to fit the moment.
> 
> Please consider following my personal Tumblr ( http://sugarysweetsandknucklesandwiches.tumblr.com/ ) or my Tumblr meant specifically for my AO3 ( http://clockwork-flames.tumblr.com/ ).
> 
> I wanted to say that I was considering holding a stream sometime soon. I think it would be a great way to interact with everyone who has been reading my stories and such! I was thinking that I could maybe play some games or draw art based on some of the scenes in my stories. What do you think? Please let me know! If you're interested in it, what day and time do you think would work best? Please be aware that I'm in the Central Time Zone.
> 
> As always, comments and criticism is appreciated!


	7. Falter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything turned out way different than you intended it to be. Why did life have to be so difficult?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song Used:
> 
> 1) His Theme (tieff's remix) by avieri
> 
> \----------------------------------------------
> 
> Hey everyone, I'm so sorry that I took a temporary hiatus without notice. These last few months have been difficult for me since I've had several hospital visits as well as constant college exams. I'm doing better and starting to recover now so I'm hoping that I won't have to take another hiatus for a long time. 
> 
> Due to college, I've decided that I'll have to change my update schedule for my stories. From now on, I'll be updating each story every other week. Since I have two stories, that means that this story won't update again until April 8th while Time Forgot will be updating April 1st. I'm sorry if this upsets anyone but I have to put college first which means I can be updating two stories every week.
> 
> I hope you'll still stick with me for this story and possibly read my other as well if you're interesting in reading another Sans X Reader. Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 6 - Falter 

 

No matter what you tried to do, it seemed that there was no way to stop Sans from laughing. Standing there in absolute dismay, you simply stared as his laughter finally died down after what felt like an eternity. Wiping away what might have been a tear, the skeleton finally straightened up before looking at you. With a shit-eating grin on his face, the monster snickered, “have fun trying to get along with that weed. if he tries anything, just call for me and i’ll get the weed whacker.”

“Wait! You’re not gonna stay?” you questioned, watching as Sans walked towards the door.  Staring at this back as he continued on his path, the monster simply chuckled as if you had said another joke to him. Stopping at the doorway, the skeleton looked over his shoulder before stating, “if i stay in the same room as that pest, i can’t promise he’ll be alive. tori would kill me if she found out i went and dusted the little brat.”

“As if you could dust me, you smiley trash bag! Get over here so I can slaughter you! I’ve had enough of your dumb face and stupid puns!” Flowey screeched, his sudden outburst taking you by surprise. Feeling as if your heart was going to burst from the sudden fright, you threw your hand onto your chest as if that would solve the problem. As your eyes flickered between Flowey and Sans, you wondered if there was going to be a fight. If these two monsters started fighting, you weren’t sure if you would be able to stop them at all.

Before you could get another word out, Sans closed the door and continued his way back to the kitchen. Awkwardly standing there, you finally let out a breath you weren’t aware that you had been holding. Turning your attention to Flowey, it took a moment before you finally made your way over to the desk he was resting on. Sitting yourself on the nearby chair, you glanced over at the buttercup before nibbling on your bottom lip, “So… Frisk wants us to write a song together. I know you don’t really like me - or humans in general - but I really need you to cooperate with me on this.”

“What makes you think that I care about any of this?” Flowey hissed, whipping around to glare at you. As you went to speak, the small flower simply cut you off as he continued his rant, “Frisk will just have to deal with not getting what they want for once! They should be able to deal with a little disappointment for once in their life since they should’ve known that I would never help you with anything. The fact that you’re even trying to convince me to do this with you is absolutely pathetic. Just do me a favor and walk yourself right out of this house.”

Flowey’s harsh words took you by surprise, causing you to jolt backwards as if you had been physically hit. Trying to stand your ground, you were quick to retaliate while trying to stay calm and rational, “Listen I’m not expecting us to become best friends or something but I think we can both agree that one way or another, Frisk is going to make us write a song together. Now then, we can do this the easy way there we cooperate or we can wait for Frisk to get back and force us. After this, I’ll leave you alone since that’s obviously what you want me to do.”

“You think that I’ll let you order me around?” Flowey growled, slightly catching you off guard. Before your very eyes, the flower’s face contorted as a huge grin suddenly split his face and his eyes seemingly became larger. Pulling some of his vines out from the pot he was residing in, the monster laughed before the vines lunged at you. Since the attack was so sudden, you had no time to try and escape as thorn-covered vines wrapped around your arms and dug into your biker jacket. Due to the thick material, the thorns weren’t able to break through and cut into your skin. Biting down on your bottom lip to hold back a yelp of pain, you forced yourself to ignore the pain flowing through your arms as the vines tightened. With how strongly the vines were holding you, you wouldn’t be surprised if there were bruises beneath your clothing. Not allowing yourself to be distracted much longer, you kept your eyes on the angry flower before you.

“I don’t take orders from anyone! I might seem like a tiny flower but I can rip you apart and devour your soul. In fact…” Flowey trailed off for a moment and you wondered if he was going to let you go. However, instead of releasing you, the flower’s grin seemed to widen even more. Laughing as he spoke, the buttercup spat, “Why don’t we take out your soul and see if it would even be worth eating!?”

As the vines began to tighten on you, you found yourself no longer able to stay calm. Struggling to break free, you desperately tried to move as another vine made its way towards you. Finding your flailing to be useless, tears sprung into your eyes as you stared at the large vine making its way towards your chest. Before the vine reached the area where your soul rested, the flower froze up before releasing you from his vines completely. Curling up in your chair, you tried to calm yourself as the vicious flower laughed at your distressed form. Wiping the tears from your eyes, you simply sat there in silence as you tried to stop yourself from crying more.

“You should’ve seen the look on your face, it was amazing! I wish I could have taken a picture as a reminder of how absolutely terrified you were. C’mon, even I’m not stupid enough to kill a human in this house. Frisk would be really mad with me and even Toriel might kill me if I did that,” Flowey snickered, staring down at you.

Taking a few minutes to recompose yourself, you looked up at the small monster with your bloodshot eyes. By now, your eyes were a bit puffy since you hadn’t been able to stop crying right away. After a moment, you decided to use the situation you had been put in to your advantage. Though you usually weren’t one to use such tactics to get what you wanted, you had a feeling that this would be the only way to get Flowey’s cooperation. Straightening up, you stared at Flowey before raising an eyebrow, “I wonder what Toriel would say if she came home and heard what you’ve done. In fact, maybe I should go downstairs right now and tell Sans. I mean, you definitely left a ton of bruises all up my arms after a stunt like that so I’m sure that’s more than enough proof…”

“You wouldn’t,” Flowey deadpanned, his eyes narrowing slightly as his facial features went back to the way they were originally. Not moving your eyes away from his, you crossed your arms and stayed silent for a moment. After a moment, you asked, “Do you want to bet on that? Cause I mean, you could but I doubt that would be a bet you’d win. Listen, if you want me to keep quiet about it then just help me write this song and we’ll pretend it never happened.”

For a moment, Flowey kept his glare on you without backing down. It seemed as if the little monster was trying to get you to back down through intimidation. Despite how terrified you were of him due to his previous actions, you weren’t going to allow anyone to take advantage of you. You had gone through that enough back in college and a few of those people had been worse than Flowey. After what felt like a ridiculously long staring contest, the flower seemed to sigh before grumbling, “Fine! I’ll do this stupid song thing with you! Just tell me what we need to do so that you can leave me alone already.”

“I would say to give me your hands but you don’t have any so… Place some of your vines in my hands,” you replied, holding your palms out to the flower. Almost instantly, Flowey made a face of disgust and recoiled slightly, “You mean I have you touch your gross skin?”

Holding back a groan, you rolled your eyes before staring at him, “You literally grabbed me a second ago to try and scare me. Sure, you might’ve been grabbing my clothing but it was still me. So just stop acting like a child and give me your vines. We both want to get this over with and I’ll leave you alone as soon as it’s done.”

Giving up on his protest, Flowey retracted the thorns on his vines before dropping them into your hands. Gently holding his vines there, you closed your eyes and started to focus on the monster before you. For a moment, you were taken by surprise when not a single note seemed to find its way to you. Just when you were starting to worry that something odd was going on, you finally picked up on the faintest of sounds. It was as if you had only found a fragment of a soul, yet it was desperately playing its soul song in hopes of being noticed.

Concentrating on this small sliver of soul, you found a surprisingly beautiful song flowing from it. Listening to it all, you found that the tone of the song was a rather unique mix of piano and effects from a sound board. It was a rather pretty song that you never would have thought the flower monster would have. Despite its slightly upbeat feel, the song brought a sense of melancholy to you. While the words for the song were there, they were nearly impossible to pick up on due to how small the soul sliver was. It took everything in you to figure out the words but you had somehow been able to do it.

Releasing Flowey’s vines, you pulled your phone out of your pocket before scrolling through a few things. Finding the SoundSlate app, you quickly opened it before creating a new page. SoundSlate was basically an app that worked similar to a sound board, allowing you to create specific sound effects as well as giving you the ability to play and stop the sounds at any time. For Flowey’s soul song, you were definitely going to need quite a few sounds if you were going to get the meaning of the song across. Fiddling with everything on the app, you stood up from the chair you were in and moved to Frisk’s bed. Picking up the keyboard and its stand, you whisked them into your arms before leaving the room. After all, you had promised to leave Flowey alone once you were done.

Trotting downstairs, you were able to find the living room rather easily. With a quick glance around the room, you found that the place was empty of people. Wherever Sans was, he certainly wasn’t here and that was alright with you. Not bothering to take in much of your surroundings, you set up the stand before placing the keyboard onto it. Once the soundboard on your phone was set up with everything you needed, you gently rested the device on a small empty space of the keyboard. With everything set up, you decided to practice a bit since Flowey’s soul song had been so faint. You didn’t want to make a mistake on something as precious as a soul song, even if it did belong to an obnoxiously rude flower.

* * *

You spent a few hours practicing Flowey’s soul song and were relieved when you were finally able to get it down. Though the song had been so faint when you had listened to it, you were sure that you had finally been able to replicate it. For a while you had stressed over the fact that you kept messing up but now there was nothing to worry about. Letting out a sigh of relief, you took a moment to stretch your limbs and crack your joints. Standing up in the same position for hours had definitely been a strain on your body and it was nice to release all the tension.

Without warning, someone tackled you from behind and caused you to almost slam into the keyboard. Barely catching your balance, you glanced over your shoulder to spot a mop of brown hair behind you. Instantly realizing that it was Frisk, a grin split on your face before you turned around and swooped the child up. Tossing them onto the nearby couch, you began to relentlessly assault them with tickles. Though the child was holding back a to laugh, it was easy to tell that they were enjoying themselves as they grinned and tried to escape. When you finally let them escape, Frisk took a moment to calm down before grabbing you by the hand and leading you out of the room. Soon enough, Frisk dragged you into the dining room which was already filled with monsters you had met before. Releasing your hand, the child ran upstairs to go get something while you were left to your own devices.

While the large oak table was already covered with platters full of different foods, Toriel was working on getting all the dishes situated for everyone. Meanwhile, Alphys and Undyne were already seated at the table and avidly talking about the latest anime they had watched. Papyrus was on the other side of Undyne and talking to Sans about his day. The lazy skeleton sat at the head of the table and seemed to be sinking into his chair as he listened to Papyrus speak, making sure to throw in a pun every once in awhile. Moving towards the table, Toriel finished setting the different pitchers of drinks on the table before taking her seat at the other end of the table. Hearing the clammering of Frisk coming down the stairs, you turned around to watch the child turn into the dining room with Flowey in hand. Placing the flower on the chair that was beside Toriel, you noticed that there were several books stacked on the seat so that Flowey could reach the table. Doing your best to contain your laughter at the sight, you watched as Frisk pushed Flowey’s chair in before turning to look at you. Once again, the child grabbed you by the hand and pulled you towards the table. After guiding you to your chair, Frisk sat themselves down between you and Flowey.

Dinner went smoothly as everyone dug in and chatted about their day. By the time everyone was finished, it seemed as if all the food had been successfully eaten. You were a little surprised from that since there had been a ridiculous amount of food on the table but you decided not to question it. After all, you weren’t exactly sure just how skeletons ate and you were nearly positive that you had seen Flowey eat an entire pie by himself. At this point, you had just decided to accept everything that happened in the household without question.

Feeling a tug on your sleeve, you glanced down to meet Frisk’s eyes. Without having to ask, you already knew just what the kid wanted to hear. Flashing a small smile, you hummed, “Though it took a lot of effort, I got Flowey to cooperate with me long enough to write a song. Let’s help your mom clean up the table really quick and then I’ll play it for you. How does that sound?”

In a flash, Frisk was picking up dishes and bringing them into the kitchen. Standing up from your chair, you started to help out as well. As the others went to get themselves situated in the living room, the kitchen was occupied by you, Frisk, and Toriel. Like an assembly line, you handed the dirty dishes to Toriel only for her to rinse them and give them to Frisk. Soon enough, Frisk was placing the dishes in the dishwasher. With all the extra help, it didn’t take Toriel as long as it usually did. With a smile on her face, the woman wiped her wet hands off on a towel before turning the machine on. Picking up Frisk, the goat monster spoke, “Thanks for the help you two. Now then, let us head into the living room. Frisk would not stop talking about the music you played back at Grillby’s and I must admit that it has made me rather excited to hear you play.”

“Well, I hope you’ll enjoy hearing it,” you replied, following Toriel back into the dining room. Once Frisk had Flowey in his hands, all four of you moved into the living room. While you were making sure that everything was correctly set up, it seemed that your current audience was getting comfortable on the couches in the room. Taking a moment to relax, you looked over your SoundSpace one more to make sure you were on the right board. Positive that everything was set up correctly, you turned the volume on the keyboard all the way up before starting the song.

As the music began to flow through the room, you felt as if you had been placed into the mindset of a young child that had grown up too fast. You found yourself in emotional pain, wishing to be noticed by the people who you cared for. It felt as if no matter what you did, people simply looked through you and no one was able to recognize you. Instead, it was as if you didn’t belong anymore - an outcast in your own home. You were simply forced to sit back and watch from afar as your family and friends moved on without you.

Despite everything, you found yourself being filled with anger and spite. All you wanted was to be noticed by someone - anyone at all. Was that too much to ask for in this cruel world? As long as someone would finally meet your gaze and notice you, you didn’t care how they found you. You were desperate for a companion and anyone would do. You’d do anything to not be alone anymore.

 _From the sky, drops the rain_ __  
_Do you think it can subdue the pain?_ __  
_From beneath that red umbrella_ __  
_Will the sound of the droplets tell you_ __  
_That I'm here?_  
_Just right here?_  

All at once, it felt as if you had finally been noticed by someone only to hurt them by mistake. In a desperate attempt to keep your friend by your side, you hadn’t realized just what it was that you’d done. You’d hurt them in so many ways - both physically and emotionally. While in the moment, you hadn’t thought about what you were doing or how it would affect them. All you cared about was that it would cause your companion to stay by your side. Terrified by what you had done, you finally decided to let them go. Despite the fact that you wished to stay with them, you knew it was for the best have your friend move on just like everyone in your past had.

 _It cannot be, oh, what have I done?_ __  
_After it all, this game wasn't very fun_ __  
_It's my mistake and I'm really sorry_ __  
_But it's alright, you don't have to worry_ __  
_About me_  
_It's okay_

Giving your last goodbye, you put all the emotion you could into your final words. Despite everything, you knew that you would revert into the person you had once been. There was no way for you to stay as the compassionate person you had become and the fact that you would turn back into such a cruel being was horrifying. You wanted to do everything you could to help the person you cared for, even if it meant telling them to treat you differently if they ever saw you again. While you would surely do everything in your power to avoid crossing their path again, you had a feeling that they’d find you one way or another. All you wished for was to keep them safe and you’d sacrifice your own feelings to do so.

 _When you see me again,_ __  
_I give you one request_ __  
_Please don't think I'm a friend_  
_That's my only request_

All at once, it felt as if you were singing about a different companion now. You felt as if you were digging further back and speaking of someone you had lost long ago. Perhaps they had been a close friend or maybe even a sibling. No matter what their role had been, you were aware that they were important. Filled with melancholy, you found a sad smile gracing your features as you continued to sing. This person was the most important thing to you, yet it was time to let everything go. If you didn’t let everything be washed away and forgotten, there was no way that either of you would ever be able to move on. You didn’t want to be filled with spite like you had once been. No, you wanted to move on from being forgotten and finally be happy again.

 _All the pain_  
_All the wounds_  
_All the smiles_  
_All the memories_  
_Our friendship_  
_Our bond_  
_Let them be washed away_  
_By small droplets of rain_

Closing your eyes, you felt as if you were drowning in all the emotions behind this soul song. Just like the tides of an ocean, the feelings behind the words were changing as time went by. Pushing towards the finale of the song, you sang for the friend you had lost. Desperate to meet them once again, you spoke of what you had been doing in your time without them. They had always been in your thoughts, clouding your mind constantly as you spent time doing the things the two of you had once done together. Not only were you missing your closest friend but there was also a void within your very being. You were missing something important - that you were sure of - yet it wasn’t what you thought had disappeared. Instead, the missing piece was something much easier to regain than what you thought had been lost all those years ago.

 _Looking up at fake stars,_ __  
_I wonder where you are_  
_Among flowers of gold,_  
_Though I'm without a heart_

Letting your voice sink to a whisper, you gently finished off the song. Putting every bit of love you had within your body into these final words, you wanted your closest friend to know that you hadn’t forgotten them. You were still waiting for them to come back. Every moment without them hurt your very being, yet you would wait as long as it took to see them again. You’d take them in with open arms because they were your most important thing. You loved them, it was as simple as that.

 _I'm waiting_ __  
_Just waiting_ __  
_I miss you_  
_I love you_

After the final note played, your hands drifted away from the keyboard as your eyes opened once more. Almost instantly, you noticed the odd tension that was slowly seeping into the air. Alphys looked nervous as she desperately tried to sink into the pillows while Undyne was tightly gripping her hand and trying not to grind her teeth together. Meanwhile, Papyrus’ attention was on Frisk and Sans. Frisk looked as if they had been hit with a wave of nostalgia and was unsure of just how to react. As for Sans, you really couldn’t place an emotion on the look he was giving you. Drawing your eyes to Flowey, you nearly flinched from how he looked. It was obvious that hearing his own soul song had affected him, especially since he looked so distraught and horrified.

However, the worst by far was definitely Toriel. The kind goat monster looked as if she had seen a ghost and was shaking in her seat. Holding back tears, the woman’s voice cut through the air as she hoarsely whispered out, “That melody… How do you know that melody? I haven’t heard that tune since Asriel. My sweet boy, Asriel…”

You weren’t sure just what was going on but there was one thing you were positive of. Somehow, you had royally fucked up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is officially 4105 words WITH lyrics and 3962 words without lyrics. I hope you enjoyed and I'd love to hear what you think. The title for this chapter was a play on several things - let's see if you can figure them out.
> 
> As you can tell, Flowey does have a soul song which means that he must have some semblance of a soul. The song was faint for a reason so we'll see if you can figure things out. With time, it'll all be revealed but I always love to hear your theories. Also, sorry if there's weird formatting by the lyrics. I spend FOREVER trying to fix it all but I don't know if it worked out right and it's like 3 AM so I wanna sleep.
> 
> As always, comments and constructive criticism is appreciated!


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